Department of Health and Social Care

Asthma

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of asthma (a) acute admissions and (b) deaths in the last 12 months.

Helen Whately: NHS England has advised that admissions data for asthma show that it follows the seasonal pattern seen in past years of falling, lower rates in the spring and summer months, and increasing, higher rates in the winter months. There is no published mortality data for asthma available for the past 12 months. The most recent data published by the Office for National Statistics and NHS England covers the period up to 2022.

Health Services: Costs

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate she has made of the cost to (a) integrated care boards and (b) NHS England of commissioning specialised services in the (i) 2022-23 and (ii) 2023-24 financial years.

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the nine statutory joint committees formed between integrated care boards and NHS England regions on specialised commissioning.

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what (a) training and (b) support on specialised services is provided for staff working in integrated care boards in the (i) East of England, (ii) Midlands and (iii) North West following full delegation of commissioning in 2024-25.

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate she has made of the proportion of specialised services that met national standards in the (a) 2022-23 and (b) 2023-24 financial years.

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has she made of the adequacy of the progress towards full delegated commissioning for Integrated Care Boards by April 2025 in (a) the South West, (b) the South East, (c) London and (d) the North East.

Helen Whately: The total spend on commissioning specialised services was £22.7 billion in 2022/23 and £25 billion in 2023/24. As formal delegation of specialised services to integrated care boards (ICBs) begins from 1 April 2024, all spend on commissioning these services in previous years has been the responsibility of NHS England, and not the ICBs. For 2024/25, NHS England is delegating £5.3 billion of commissioning resource to ICBs in the three regions, where delegation will begin from April 2024. This figure excludes high-cost drugs and devices spend.The nine joint committee arrangements arose from a robust process, which included a readiness assessment, the Pre-Delegation Assessment Framework, made between the ICBs and NHS England regional teams, followed by a National Moderation Panel, and final decision taken by the NHS England Board. The NHS England Board papers for February 2023, December 2023, and March 2024 are available, respectively, at the following links:https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/board-2-feb-23-item-7-delegation-of-spec-comm.pdfhttps://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/specialised-commissioning-2024-25-next-steps-with-delegation-to-integrated-care-boards/https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/specialised-commissioning-update-on-specialised-services-for-delegation/The process concluded that a transitional year of joint commissioning would offer the most secure and stable transition towards delegation. There is a comprehensive programme structure in place to support the ICBs in the four regions that are working towards delegation in April 2025, to support them in being ready to take on the responsibilities. NHS England is continuing to work alongside ICBs to ensure that delegation agreements are in place, including ensuring appropriate collaborative arrangements are developed to support ICB commissioning of specialised services. These arrangements will be monitored by NHS England through its assurance processes for specialised services.A webinar series for commissioning staff, including colleagues in ICBs, was delivered in 2023 across different aspects of specialised services, and there are additional webinars planned in 2024. There has been, and will continue to be, local engagement between regional commissioning teams and ICB teams, as the future operating model is co-developed. A suite of support materials has been shared with teams and continues to be updated. As examples, these include: Commissioning Change Management Business Rules; Finance and Accounting Standard Operating Procedure; and the Contracting Standard Operating Procedure.NHS England develops services specification and clinical policies through its Clinical Reference Groups. There are 250 published service specifications which include clinical pathway, quality, and other relevant standards, which are specific to the clinical service. Regional commissioning teams, overseen by the statutory joint committees, are responsible for implementing the specifications in their commissioning of services, along with assessing compliance against national standards. NHS England has developed Specialised Services Quality Dashboards alongside service specifications, which provide additional data to monitor the quality of services.

Surgery: Waiting Lists

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce regional variations in the length of NHS elective care waiting lists.

Andrew Stephenson: Published management information from NHS England estimates that as of April 2024, three quarters of those waiting for 65 weeks are concentrated in 41 trusts. The National Health Service and Department are providing targeted regional and national intervention to these specific trusts with the largest backlogs, through a programme of challenge and support.

Air Pollution: Monitoring

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential (a) viability and (b) merits of creating a national indoor air quality observatory to monitor (i) levels and (ii) the potential health effects of indoor air pollution.

Maria Caulfield: The Department continues to work collaboratively across the Government to address the impact of air pollution. We are taking significant and wide-ranging action to drive improvements to air quality, as set out in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ Environmental Improvement Plan. The United Kingdom Health Security Agency’s (UKHSA) Cleaner Air Programme also aims to help reduce people’s exposure to air pollution, tackle disparities in exposure, and improve outcomes for all, including through increasing the evidence base and improving awareness and understanding of the health impacts of air pollution. The UKHSA has published a study quantifying the health burden in the population of England from key respiratory conditions associated with residential exposures to damp, mould, and formaldehyde.

Air Pollution: Health

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of household air pollution on (a) health outcomes and (b) NHS capacity and resources.

Maria Caulfield: The UK Health Security Agency published a study quantifying the health burden in the population of England from key respiratory illness or conditions associated with residential exposures to damp, mould, and formaldehyde. In 2019, the presence of damp, mould, or both was associated with approximately 5,000 cases of asthma, and approximately 8,500 lower respiratory infections among children and adults. Residential formaldehyde exposure was associated with approximately 4,000 cases of childhood asthma among children.Exposure to indoor air pollutants can trigger or exacerbate asthma, other respiratory or cardiovascular conditions, and may even have carcinogenic effects. Damp and mould have been associated with respiratory health outcomes, such as exacerbation of asthma, respiratory infections, and allergies. The National Health Service has not made an assessment of the potential impact of household air pollution on NHS capacity and resources.

Gender Dysphoria: Children

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average cost was of prescribing puberty blockers to each patient on the NHS in the latest period for which data is available.

Maria Caulfield: Gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists, or puberty blockers, are used to treat a number of medical conditions in adults, and children and young people. Licensed indications include some hormone-sensitive cancers in adults, and precocious puberty in children. Data regarding the average cost of prescribing puberty blockers to each patient on the National Health Service is not held centrally.

Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust: Gender Dysphoria

Nadia Whittome: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether (a) children and young people and (b) adults whose care has moved to adult gender services will be able to opt out of research into those who attended the Gender Identity Development Services at Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust.

Maria Caulfield: Dr Cass’ critical report underlined the lack of robust research available in this space, therefore we will strive to embed evidence gathering within the delivery of gender services moving forward. Regarding the data linkage study established by the Cass review and led by the University of York, we can confirm that the study received full approval from the Health Research Authority. Like all National Health Service research, the study is subject to strict ethical and legal controls, with an opt out option available for individuals who do not wish to have their data used as part of the study.

Gender Dysphoria: Children and Young People

Nadia Whittome: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether additional funding will be provided to local Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services for ongoing support beyond initial assessment for young people who are currently on the waiting list for gender services.

Maria Caulfield: NHS England has committed £17.1 million to the two new hubs for children and young people’s gender services in 2024/25. Additional funding will be made available for children and young people’s gender services as new providers are established, from 2024/25. NHS England is also making additional investment in front line mental health services in 2024/25, to support an assessment of need for all children and young people who are on the waiting list for gender services, or who have recently been transferred to one of the new providers of these services following the closure of the Tavistock Clinic gender service in March 2024. Mental health is a key priority for the Government and NHS England. We are committed to continuing to increase access to mental health support for children and young people, supported by an additional £70 million of Service Development Funding for children and young people’s mental health services.

Gender Dysphoria: Children

Nadia Whittome: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help support 17-year-olds on the waiting list for gender identity services who have had their appointments with adult services cancelled and are not eligible for young people’s services.

Maria Caulfield: NHS England has asked adult gender clinics to delay offering first appointments to young people until they have reached their 18th birthday, in response to the findings of the Cass Review, and advised that clinicians should exercise extreme caution before initiating medical interventions for young people below the age of 18 years old.The number of individuals affected is likely to be very small, and Gender Dysphoria Clinics are commissioned to provide support to individuals while they are on the waiting list, for example through the use of outreach support staff. NHS England also announced that it is bringing forward its review of the adult service specifications.

Musculoskeletal Disorders: Research

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help improve the (a) quality, (b) coverage, (c) availability and (d) use of musculoskeletal data.

Andrew Stephenson: The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities produces annual musculoskeletal health local profiles, designed to bring together meaningful data on a single platform, to enable the commissioning of high-value musculoskeletal services. Data is provided in a user-friendly format, to help local government and health services. They are regularly updated with relevant indicators, most recently in January 2024.

NHS: Managers

Sir Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate she has made of the (a) number of people working within the NHS with the title of Chief Executive and (b) average salary of such people.

Andrew Stephenson: As part of the evidence base for the Senior Salaries Review Body, information has been published by NHS England at the links below detailing the number of senior managers in the National Health Service (NHS) and their salaries. This includes information for Chief Executives.https://digital.nhs.uk/supplementary-information/2024/very-senior-manager-staff-numbers-june-2023https://digital.nhs.uk/supplementary-information/2024/very-senior-manager-earnings-june-2023

Medical Records: Databases

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress her Department has made on ensuring all NHS trusts have electronic patient records by March 2026.

Andrew Stephenson: The aim of the Frontline Digitisation programme is for all secondary care National Health Service trusts to have an Electronic Patient Record (EPR) system that meets our standards. The Government's 2023 mandate for NHS England set a target for 90% of NHS trusts to have an EPR system in place by December 2023, which has been met. The programme is forecasting to achieve 98% EPR coverage by March 2026, with the remaining 2% of NHS trusts advancing in their plans for an EPR.

Liver Diseases: Screening

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 27 February 2024 to Question 381 on Liver Diseases: Screening, where the 12 Community Diagnostic Centres planned to have fibroscans are located; and what further plans she has to roll out fibroscans by March 2025.

Andrew Stephenson: There are currently eight community diagnostic centres (CDCs) offering FibroScan testing, which are: - Andover CDC in Andover, Hampshire;- Bexhill CDC in Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex;- Ely CDC in Ely, Cambridgeshire;- Gloucestershire Quayside CDC in Gloucester, Gloucestershire;- New QEII Hospital CDC in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire;- Poole Dorset Health Village CDC in Poole, Dorset;- St Helens CDC in St Helen’s, Merseyside; and- Woking Community Hospital CDC in Woking, Surrey. There are six additional CDCs planning to offer Fibroscan testing in 2024/25, which are: - Bolton CDC in Bolton, Lancashire;- Bradford District and Craven CDC in Bradford, West Yorkshire;- Northern Care Alliance Oldham CDC in Oldham, Greater Manchester;- Peterborough CDC in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire;- Wisbech CDC in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire; and- Wood Green CDC in Haringey, London. In total, NHS England plans to have rolled out FibroScan testing to 14 CDCs by 2024/25, and continues to explore further rollout of Fibroscans by March 2025.

Visual Impairment: Rehabilitation

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of collecting data on waiting times for accessing vision rehabilitation support.

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make it her policy to collect data on waiting times for accessing vision rehabilitation support.

Maria Caulfield: The Department does not collect or hold the information requested. However, the Department is working with local authorities and other organisations to identify the data needed to support the delivery of adult social care, and provide insight into adult social care outcomes

Mental Health Services: Finance

Liz Twist: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding has been allocated to (a) The Prevention Concordat for Better Mental Health and (b) Every Mind Matters in each year since their inception.

Maria Caulfield: The Prevention Concordat programme has never been allocated funding. The funding for Better Health - Every Mind Matters, each year from 2019/20 to 2023/24, is as follows:- £6,910,000 in 2019/20;- £3,040,000 in 2020/21;- £5,300,000 in 2021/22;- £3,330,000 in 2022/23; and- £3,350,000 in 2023/24.

Elysium Healthcare: Contracts

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions her Department has had with Elysium Healthcare on continuing its contract following the inquest into the death of Liam McGenity.

Maria Caulfield: The Department has had no such discussions with Elysium Healthcare, individual National Health Service commissioning organisations hold contracts with NHS and non-NHS providers for specified services, as part of their commissioning function. NHS England has advised that NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board (ICB) contracts with Elysium Healthcare under spot purchase agreements, which means that a contract is only ongoing for the duration of an individual patient’s placement.The ICB continues to work with St Mary's Hospital in Warrington, part of the Elysium Healthcare Group. Quality visits have taken place at the St Mary’s Hospital estate, alongside visits by the NHS England Specialised Commissioning team, and Care Quality Commission (CQC) visits. All contracts with non-NHS providers are subject to NHS contract quality reviews, in addition to the regulatory regime of the CQC.

Maternity Services: Interpreters

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to paragraph 1.10 of the Three-year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services, published on 30 March 2023, what steps her Department is taking with NHS England to monitor the provision of access to interpreters for patients in maternity services by NHS trusts.

Maria Caulfield: Integrated care boards and National Health Service providers are responsible for ensuring that translation and interpretation services are in place, as they are better placed to make decisions about how they use their funding based on the needs of their local populations. To support them in this, NHS England has developed a framework agreement with suppliers of translation and interpretation services, whose experience and capability has been robustly tested. The services include face to face spoken language, British sign language, telephone interpretation and translation, document translation, and video translation and interpretation. Further information is available at the following link:https://www.sbs.nhs.uk/services/framework-agreements/interpretation-and-translation-services/To identify the most effective way to improve interpretation provision across all clinical services, including maternity and neonatal care, NHS England has completed a strategic review during 2023/24. The review considered the breadth and complexity of issues across the patient pathway, and completed an options appraisal of potential interventions. The review will inform how we best help improve interpretation services so that they meet the needs of communities and support equitable access, experience, and outcomes for all, and includes the development of an NHS Framework for Action for Community Language Translation and Interpreting during 2024/25.

Pharmacy: St Helens

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of pharmacy closures on the quality of primary care in St Helens constituency since 2019.

Andrea Leadsom: On 31 December 2023, there were 18 pharmacies in St Helens North constituency. Between 31 March 2019 and 31 December 2023, no pharmacies closed in St Helens North, and no new pharmacies opened. This year, there has been one closure in February 2024, as a result consolidation. Consolidation is a merger of two pharmacy businesses, and does not create a gap in the provision of pharmaceutical services.Access to pharmaceutical services remains good, with 95% of the population of St Helens North living within a 20-minute walk from a pharmacy. This exceeds the national average of 80%. Residents of St Helens North can also access services from distance selling pharmacies that operate nationally.It is the role of local authorities in England to undertake pharmaceutical needs assessments for their areas, every three years, to ensure provision continues to meet their population’s needs. Integrated care boards (ICBs) have regard to those assessments when commissioning services, and where a pharmacy closure impacts the access to services, a new contractor can apply to open a pharmacy in the area.

Dental Services

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the policy paper entitled Our plan to recover and reform NHS dentistry, published on 7 February 2024, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of those plans on (a) the availability of NHS dentists and (b) waiting times for NHS treatment.

Andrea Leadsom: Our Dentistry Recovery Plan, backed by £200 million, will make dental services faster, simpler, and fairer for National Health Service dental patients. It will fund approximately 2.5 million additional appointments, or more than 1.5 million additional courses of dental treatment. The plan sets out our actions to improve dental access for patients across the country, and to address the challenges facing NHS dentistry, including in Lancashire. A New Patient Premium is supporting dentists to take on new patients and since the end of January, nearly 500 more practices have said they are open to new patients.We will deploy dental vans offering appointments to patients in need, including rural and coastal communities who have the most limited access to dentistry, starting later this year. A Golden Hello incentive will encourage dentists into under-served areas. We will offer Golden Hellos of £20,000 to up to 240 dentists who join existing NHS practices in areas where recruitment is particularly challenging. Patients unable to access an urgent dental appointment directly through an NHS dental practice are advised to contact NHS 111 for assistance.

Health Professions: Regulation

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 5 June 2023 to Question 187004 on Health Professions: Regulation, if she will set out the timetable to remove the five year time limit for fitness to practice concerns to be investigated by the General Medical Council.

Andrew Stephenson: The Government is currently working with the General Medical Council (GMC) to develop a new legislative framework for the GMC, in relation to the regulation of doctors. As set out in the Government’s response to Regulating Healthcare Professionals, Protecting the Public, the Government has committed to the removal of any legislative restrictions on regulators from being able to consider fitness to practise concerns that are more than five years old. Regulators such as the GMC will have the discretion to determine whether a concern should be investigated based on the specific details of a fitness to practise case, which may include reflections on the length of time that has elapsed since the concern was raised or occurred. A public consultation on the new legislative framework will be taken forward in due course, and will adhere to the requirements of section 60 of the Health Act 1999.

Dental Services: Kingswood

Damien Egan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her Department’s polices of recent trends in levels of (a) children, (b) women and (c) people unable to access NHS dental services in Kingswood constituency.

Andrea Leadsom: Our Dentistry Recovery Plan, backed by £200 million, will make dental services faster, simpler, and fairer for National Health Service dental patients. It will fund approximately 2.5 million additional appointments, or more than 1.5 million additional courses of dental treatment. A New Patient Premium is supporting dentists to take on new patients and since the end of January, nearly 500 more practices have said they are open to new patients.The Dentistry Recovery plan also sets out a new emphasis on prevention and good oral health in children. This includes supporting nurseries and early years settings to incorporate good oral hygiene into daily routines, and providing advice to expectant parents on how to protect their baby’s teeth. The plan will deploy mobile dental teams into schools to provide advice and deliver preventative treatments to more than 165,000 children.A new patient premium is supporting dentists to take on new patients, and a new marketing campaign will help everyone who needs an NHS dentist in finding one. We have further supported dentists by raising the minimum Units of Dental Activity rate to £28 this year, making NHS work more attractive and sustainable. We are committed to evaluating the impacts of the measures included in our plan, and we will publish monthly data on progress, once available. Annual dental statistics, including the number of adults and children who have seen an NHS dentist since 2015, are available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and information/publications/statistical/nhs-dental-statistics#past-publications

Dental Services: Kingswood

Damien Egan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an estimate of the number of (a) children, (b) women and (c) people affected by dental surgeries no longer providing NHS services in Kingswood constituency since 2022.

Andrea Leadsom: Our Dentistry Recovery Plan, backed by £200 million, will make dental services faster, simpler, and fairer for National Health Service dental patients across England. It will fund approximately 2.5 million additional appointments, or more than 1.5 million additional courses of dental treatment. Patients unable to access an urgent dental appointment directly through an NHS dental practice are advised to contact NHS 111 for assistance.We are committed to evaluating the impacts of the measures included in our plan, and we will publish monthly data on progress once available. No estimates are currently available of the number of children, women, and people affected by dental surgeries no longer providing NHS services in the Kingswood constituency since 2022. Annual dental statistics, including the number of dentists offering NHS services since 2015, are available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-dental-statisticsAnnual data on the number of NHS dental contracts commissioned since 2015/16 is available at the following link:https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/dental-data/nhs-payments-dentists

Breastfeeding

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has had recent discussions with representatives of Unicef on (a) its Baby Friendly initiative and (b) trends in breastfeeding rates in the UK.

Andrea Leadsom: I met with representatives from UNICEF in March 2024 to discuss the Start for Life agenda. Through the Family Hubs and Start for Life Programme, we are investing £50 million into infant feeding services. This is enabling participating local authorities to design and deliver a blended offer to ensure all mothers can meet their breastfeeding goals. The investment is being used to increase the range of advice and support available, including peer support.We are also investing to increase the capacity of the National Breastfeeding Helpline. In March 2024, we launched a trial of extended helpline opening hours, so that support and advice is available at any time of the day or night, every day of the year.

Office for Health Improvement and Disparities: Staff

Liz Twist: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many staff were employed in the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities in public mental health national roles in (a) 2021, (b) 2022, (c) 2023 and (d) 2024.

Maria Caulfield: National public mental health activity is delivered in a matrix, via a mixture of national and regional teams, drawing on public health, mental health, policy, project delivery, communication, marketing, and analytical expertise. The approach and scale of the contribution from the various teams in the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities and the Department varies in line with the action being taken.

Assistance Animals

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help support the mental health of people working in the companion animal welfare sector.

Maria Caulfield: Mental health is a cross-Government issue as it affects everyone in society, and we continue to work closely with other Government departments in addressing the wider determinants of mental ill health. We are currently working with stakeholders to develop a Mental Health Policy Tool to support Government policymakers to take mental health and wellbeing impacts into account, and address disparities when designing new policies.Through the NHS Long Term Plan, the Government is providing record levels of investment to expand and transform National Health Service mental health services in England, so that more people, including those working in the companion animal welfare sector, can get the help and support that they need.

NHS England: Complaints

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many complaints have been received by the NHS England South West Complaints Team in each of the last six months; how many emanated from the Dorset Integrated Care Board; and how many of those have been outstanding for more than two months.

Maria Caulfield: The South West Complaints Team transferred from NHS England to the NHS Somerset Integrated Care Board (ICB), who now host the NHS South West Collaborative Commissioning Hub, on 1 July 2023. This followed the delegation of pharmacy, optometry, and dentistry associated complaints on 1 April 2023. The following table shows the number of complaints the South West Complaints Team received, and the proportion that were investigated for NHS Dorset ICB, each month from October 2023 to March 2024:MonthTotal receivedNumber from NHS Dorset ICBOctober 202318125November 202319631December 202311921January 202420829February 202419144March 202415632Total1,051182 Of the 1,051 total complaints, 86 have been outstanding for more than two months. Of the 182 complaints from NHS Dorset ICB, 14 have been outstanding for more than two months.

Mental Health Services: Stockport

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 16 April 2024 to Question 20454 on Mental Health Services: Stockport, how the £4.7 billion of increased funding for mental health has been spent; and how much and what proportion of that funding has been spent by (a) local authority and (b) constituency area.

Maria Caulfield: Whilst a definitive answer is not possible, most of this additional funding was allocated to local health systems to be spent on expanding and transforming mental health services across the country. This is evidenced by:- an increase in the number of adults accessing NHS Talking Therapies, with nearly 6 million people being supported over this five year period; an increase in the number of children and young people accessing mental health support, with over 750,000 children and young people under 18 years old supported through National Health Service funded mental health services, those with at least one contact, over the 12 months to January 2024;- the roll out of approximately 400 mental health support teams in schools and colleges; the transformation of community mental health services for adults with approximately 288,000 adults and older adults with severe mental illness able to access improved physical health care, employment support, personalised and trauma informed care, medicines management and support for self-harm, and coexisting substance use over 2022/23, the latest full financial year for which figures are available;- the establishment of around the clock and all-age urgent mental health helplines in every part of England;- the investment of £30 million to meet the health needs of people sleeping rough, allowing for the establishment of 37 sites with new mental health provision for rough sleepers;- the opening, or planned opening, of 15 specialist gambling treatment clinics, achieving representation across every region of England and including specialist provision for children and young people;- the provision of £57 million of funding up to the end of March 2024, to embed local suicide and self-harm prevention activity, and to provide suicide bereavement support services in every local area.

Human Papillomavirus: Vaccination

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to increase HPV vaccination uptake.

Maria Caulfield: National Health Service commissioned School Age Immunisation Service providers have robust catch-up plans in place for the adolescent human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programme based on population need, utilising opportunities from the move to one dose in September 2023.The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) works closely with several charities to develop resources that can be used to raise awareness of HPV. The UKHSA also publishes annual statistics to support local NHS teams in developing plans to improve uptake and reduce inequalities for the HPV universal programme. These statistics are available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/human-papillomavirus-hpv-vaccine-coverage-estimates-in-england-2022-to-2023/human-papillomavirus-hpv-vaccination-coverage-in-adolescents-in-england-2022-to-2023#:~:text=HPV%20vaccine%20coverage%20in%20England,pandemic%20(2018%20to%202019)NHS England has improved digital communications on vaccinations, including expanding the NHS app, and has improved access to the vaccine outside of schools through community clinics at convenient times and locations. The UKHSA also produces a number of HPV resources, which are available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hpv-vaccination-programmeOther materials are available on the UKHSA Health Publications website in a range of languages and accessible formats, which are available at the following link:https://www.healthpublications.gov.uk/Home.html

Ivacaftor/tezacaftor/elexacaftor: Vertex

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will provide a timescale of when she expects (a) NHS England to conclude its commercial negotiations with Vertex Pharmaceuticals and (b) NICE to issue final guidance on NHS availability of Kaftrio for new patients.

Andrew Stephenson: Commercial negotiations between NHS England and Vertex remain on track and are being undertaken constructively, and within a confidential environment, to best enable progress. NHS England remains committed to ensuring patients, and the wider community of family, carers, and friends, are provided with regular updates as negotiations continue.Notwithstanding the ongoing commercial negotiations, the existing agreement contains a flexible commercial mechanism that will ensure continued access for patients already receiving any of the licensed treatments, whatever the outcome of the final National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) evaluation. Eligible children and adults with cystic fibrosis are continuing to receive ongoing treatment, and will be initiated onto treatment with these drugs as clinically appropriate. An update on the anticipated date of final guidance publication will be provided by the NICE once the commercial negotiations have concluded.

Joint Replacements: Surgery

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of people received treatment for (a) knee and (b) hip replacements in surgical hubs in each of the last 12 months.

Andrew Stephenson: NHS England has introduced specific hub-level data site codes for all operational hubs in 2023, with 89% of the 101 operational hubs now reporting data against these codes. However, as many of the hubs have only recently introduced the data codes, NHS England have limited data available for the last 12 months, and much of this new data submission is still being validated. Therefore, NHS England currently do not have reliable, validated hub-specific data about specific procedures undertaken in hubs.

Cancer: Medical Treatments

Jess Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she (a) has had discussions and (b) plans to have discussions with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on (i) its use of the new severity modifier and (ii) how it (A) measures and (B) reports the impact of the modifier on approval of treatments for (1) cancers, (2) relapsing and remitting conditions and (3) conditions that are more prevalent in older people.

Andrew Stephenson: The Department regularly meets with colleagues in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to discuss a range of issues, including in relation to the NICE’s methods for the evaluation of medicines. In 2022, the NICE introduced a number of changes to make its methods and processes fairer, faster, and more consistent. This includes the introduction of a broader severity modifier, in place of the end-of-life modifier. Since the changes were introduced, 79% of the NICE’s appraisals of cancer medicines carried out under the updated methods have recommended the use of the treatment for some or all of the eligible patient population, either for routine use or use through the Cancer Drugs Fund. The approval rate for all cancer appraisals carried out since 2009, when the end-of-life modifier was introduced, is 78%.

Cancer: Drugs

Jess Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions she (a) has had and (b) plans to have with (i) charities and (ii) other organisations working to secure UK access to new drugs for (A) incurable, (B) relapsing and (C) remitting cancers such as myeloma.

Andrew Stephenson: Department ministers and officials regularly meet with a range of organisations, with an interest in securing patient access to new cancer medicines. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the body that develops authoritative, evidence-based guidance for the National Health Service on whether new licensed medicines should be routinely funded by the NHS, based on an assessment of their costs and benefits, including medicines for myeloma. The NICE aims to publish guidance on all new medicines close to the point of licensing wherever possible, and has recommended many cancer medicines for NHS use that are now available to NHS patients, including through the Cancer Drugs Fund.

Liver Diseases: Shropshire

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to ensure there are effective pathways for early detection of liver disease in Shropshire.

Andrew Stephenson: Early detection of liver disease is vital to enable interventions, and encourage behavioural changes that can potentially lead to recovery. Liver disease is one of the primary risk factors for liver cancer. Across the Shropshire, Telford, and Wrekin Integrated Care Board (ICB) area, the early detection of liver disease is led by primary care partners, and the ICB encourages general practitioners to follow best practice in the delivery of patient care pathways, to ensure the early detection of liver disease in patients. The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust is working with primary care partners to increase awareness and provide tools to support this work. The hospital also carries out active outreach into the community for drug and alcohol patients.

Lung Cancer: Artificial Intelligence

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 7 May 2024 to Question 24269 on Lung Cancer: Artificial Intelligence, which (a) NHS trusts have and (b) imaging network has not received funding.

Andrew Stephenson: Since the initial announcements regarding funding for National Health Service trusts to integrate artificial intelligence into lung cancer imaging, adjustments have been made to the list of participants. Three trusts have withdrawn from the initiative, and five additional trusts have been onboarded, due to the inclusion of a new imaging network. As a result, as set out in the answer of 7 May 2024, there are now 66 trusts across 12 imaging networks that are participating in this initiative.In the answer of 7 May 2024, 63 out of 66 trusts, in 11 of 12 imaging networks, had received funding. It is now confirmed that all 66 trusts in the 12 imaging networks participating have received or are in the process of receiving funding. These trusts are currently implementing artificial intelligence technologies to enhance diagnostic capabilities in lung cancer, consistent with the Government's commitment to advancing healthcare technology across the NHS.

Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency: Recruitment

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will provide an update on the status of the recruitment process for the Chair of the MHRA.

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when she plans to announce the new Chair of the MHRA.

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what role the incoming Chair of the MHRA will have in the recruitment process for the new Chief Executive.

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will provide an update on the status of the recruitment process for the Chief Executive of the MHRA.

Andrew Stephenson: The Government is in the process of recruiting a Chair to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. The application and assessment process has concluded, and an announcement will be made when all required checks and approvals have been completed.The process will run in accordance with the Civil Service Senior Appointments Protocol. A Civil Service Commissioner will chair this recruitment process in line with appointments of this level of seniority, and will consider the role of any incoming Chair in that process.

Ministry of Defence

RNAD Coulport

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on improving service accommodation at Royal Naval Armaments Depot in Coulport since April 2022.

James Cartlidge: The Royal Naval Armaments Depot Coulport is an integral part of His Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde. I refer the hon. Member to the answer I provided on 7 May 2024 to Question 23943.

RNAD Coulport: Repairs and Maintenance

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many callouts have been made to Royal Naval Armaments Depot, Coulport for maintenance issues relating to (a) roofing, (b) loss of heating and hot water, (c) electrics (d) pest control and (e) damp and mould since April 2022.

James Cartlidge: The Royal Naval Armaments Depot Clyde is an integral part of His Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde. I refer the hon. Member to the answer I provided on 7 May 2024 to Question 23569.

Guided Weapons: Procurement

Mr Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress his Department has made on the Anglo-French Future Cruise-Anti-Ship Weapon programme.

James Cartlidge: The Future Cruise / Anti-Ship weapon programme is in the third year of the assessment phase and joint Anglo-France work is designing novel technological advances in missile capability. Significant progress has been made on suitable candidate weapon systems to fulfil the Naval and Air requirements. At this stage of the programme, work is focused on reducing technical and schedule risk, prior to the potential Demonstration and Manufacturing phases, and preparations are underway to prepare towards Full Business Case. Additionally, progress is also being made to explore bringing Italy on board as a partner nation, with a Letter of Intent signed in June 2023.

Armed Forces: Housing

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to improve the quality of service accommodation.

James Cartlidge: Currently, 96% of Service Family Accommodation (SFA) meets or exceeds the Government’s Decent Homes Standard. The Defence Command Paper Refresh 2023 committed an investment of £400M for SFA over two years. In 2023/24, the Ministry of Defence allocated and spent £220 million to implement damp and mould remediation in approximately 4,000 homes, refurbished c1,000 long term empty homes, provided 3,000 homes with replacement windows and doors, 1,000 homes with replacement kitchens and bathrooms, and upgraded heaters and boilers in 1,500 homes. In 2024/25, £180 million is allocated to improve insulation in c600 homes, implement c1,000 long-term damp and mould remediations and refurbish 200 long-term empty homes. 1,700 minor damp and mould improvement packages are planned, and 30 more homes will receive upgraded heating solutions.

Ministry of Defence: ICT

Matt Rodda: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the guidance by the Central Digital and Data Office entitled Guidance on the Legacy IT Risk Assessment Framework, published on 29 September 2023, how many red-rated IT systems are used by his Department; and how many red-rated IT systems have been identified since 4 December 2023.

James Cartlidge: It is not appropriate to release sensitive information held about specific red-rated systems or more detailed plans for remediation within the Ministry of Defence’s IT estate, as this information could indicate which systems are at risk, and may highlight potential security vulnerabilities.

Armed Forces: Housing

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many single living accommodation bedspaces are there in Scotland.

James Cartlidge: There is a total of 10,165 Single Living Accommodation bedspaces in Scotland, across 12 establishments.

Army Foundation College: Repairs and Maintenance

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many callouts have been made to Army Foundation College for maintenance issues relating to (a) roofing, (b) loss of heating and hot water, (c) electrics, (d) pest control and (e) damp and mould since April 2022.

James Cartlidge: The approximate number of callouts to Service Family Accommodation (managed by DIO) and Forces Families Accommodation (managed under a Private Finance Initiative contract) at the Army Foundation College (Harrogate) for maintenance issues since April 2022 are shown in the table below. LocationRoofingLoss of Heating & Hot WaterElectricalPest ControlDamp & MouldArmy Foundation College (Harrogate)30105501658

Armed Forces: Recruitment

Dame Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many applications to join the Armed Forces were rejected due to previous criminal convictions in each year since 2015.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The requested information is provided in the attached spreadsheet.UIN24365 (xlsx, 15.3KB)

Boxer Vehicles: Procurement

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to accelerate the delivery of the Boxer RCH 155 Self Propelled Howitzer.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Boxer RCH 155 Self Propelled Howitzers the Army plans to procure.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the value of the programme to procure new Boxer RCH 155 Self Propelled Howitzers is for the Army.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when the Boxer RCH 155 Self Propelled Howitzer will enter service with the Army.

James Cartlidge: RCH155 will be developed through a jointly led collaborative procurement between the UK and Germany. Working collaboratively on a joint assessment and qualification plan will exploit the combined capabilities of each nation’s test and trials centres enabling faster delivery at less cost. The certainty of platform choice also enables us to advance early acquisition of ammunition and other critical enablers in the assessment phase. Concurrently, we will continue to explore opportunities to accelerate delivery of RCH155 to the Army, where possible and in line with the new Integrated Procurement Model. The assessment phase of the programme will determine the most appropriate manufacturing approach and confirm the number of platforms required by the British Army. The Army aims to achieve a Mobile Fires Platform Minimum Deployable Capability within this decade. The joint programme is potentially worth upwards of £3 billion and marks a step change towards a deeper industrial and wider defence relationship between the UK and Germany.

Armed Forces: Motor Vehicles

Dame Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many callouts the National Roadside Repair and Recovery Scheme has received in each region of the UK in each year since 2015; and what the cost to the public purse is of that service.

Dame Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which vehicles are covered by the National Roadside Repair and Recovery Scheme.

Dame Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 24 October 2023 to Question 202827 on Armed Forces: Motor Vehicles, what the circumstances were that led to a vehicle being supported by the National Roadside Repair and Recovery Scheme in Morocco in 2018-19.

Dame Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will provide a breakdown by vehicle type of the vehicles supported by the National Roadside Repair and Recovery Scheme in each year since 2015.

James Cartlidge: The National Roadside Repair and Recovery (NRRR) service covers all MOD owned and registered category A and B platforms. Category A is inclusive of wheeled and tracked armoured vehicles, while category B is inclusive of general logistic vehicles, such as cars, land rovers and logistics platforms. For the annual cost of the NRRR between 2015 and 2023, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 16 October 2023 to Question 202849 to the hon. Member for Ellesmere Port and Neston (Mr Madders). The annual cost of the service for 2023/24 was £1,007,611. The 2018-19 NRRR callout in Morocco was due to the breakdown of a land rover while on a training exercise. Information on the number of annual callouts by UK region since 2015 is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Army Foundation College

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost to the public purse was of improvements to service accommodation at the Army Foundation College since April 2022.

James Cartlidge: Approximately £1.5 million has been spent on improvements to service accommodation at the Army Foundation College (Harrogate) over the last two Financial Years.

Royal Fleet Auxiliary

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Royal Fleet Auxiliary will be exempt from the Government's proposed cuts to the civil service to fund the increase in defence spending.

James Cartlidge: The RFA will continue to recruit until it reaches its agreed full time equivalent headcount and is therefore currently exempt from further reductions in numbers.

Ministry of Defence: LGBT+ People

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost to his Department was of (a) events, (b) activities, (c) merchandise and (d) other costs relating to Pride Month 2023.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Ministry of Defence spent £12,496 on events during Pride Month on behalf of the Department and Armed Forces. There were no costs for activities and merchandise.

Armed Forces: Data Protection

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether any personnel on exchange programmes from non-UK allied Armed Forces have been affected by the data breach following the armed forces payment data breach reported on 6 May 2024.

Dr Andrew Murrison: At present there is no evidence that any personnel on exchange programmes from non-UK allied Armed Forces have been impacted.

Armed Forces: Data Protection

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) full-time, (b) reservist and (c) former armed forces personnel were affected by the data breach reported on 6 May 2024.

Dr Andrew Murrison: At present there is no indication that this data has been accessed, exploited or made publicly available. This is being actively monitored. We are still analysing the data and not able to give an answer. We have taken a precautionary approach of writing to all those who have received salary, expenses or lump sum payments under either the Armed Forces Pension Scheme or Armed Forces Compensation Scheme since 2018.

Armed Forces: Pay

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether salary payments for serving armed forces personnel due in May 2024 were affected by the armed forces payment data breach reported on 6 May 2024.

Dr Andrew Murrison: As of 9 May, all outstanding payments had been paid to recipients and we expect to pay salaries to Armed Forces personnel at the end of May as normal.

Ministry of Defence: Data Protection

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when (a) the contractor, (b) officials in his Department, (c) Ministers and (d) he first learned of the armed forces payment data breach reported on 6 May 2024.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The MOD is unable to disclose this information at present for national security reasons.

Ministry of Defence: Data Protection

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many investigations the Information Commissioner’s Office has open related to data breaches in his Department.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has three personal data incidents relating to the Ministry of Defence currently open.

Armed Forces: Housing

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 1 May 2024 to Question 23282 on Armed Forces: Housing, how many service personnel are based in Woolwich; and what estimate he has made of the number of personnel to be based there in each of the next five years.

Dr Andrew Murrison: As at 1 January 2024, there were 950 UK Armed Forces Service Personnel stationed at Woolwich. The number of personnel stationed there is not estimated to change significantly over the next five years; however, numbers will fluctuate in line with operational deployments and other routine commitments. Please note the following caveats: The number of UK Armed Forces Service Personnel stationed at Woolwich can only be provided as at 1 January 2024 in line with Published National Statistics.This figure comprises UK Regular Forces, Gurkhas, Military Provost Guard Service (MPGS), Locally Engaged Personnel (LEP), Volunteer Reserve, Serving Regular Reserve, Sponsored Reserve and Full Time Reserve Service (FTRS) of unknown origin. University Officer Cadets are excluded. The figure includes both trained and untrained personnel.The figure is based on Service personnel’s stationed location and not their location of residence – where personnel work is not necessarily where they live. Personnel deployed on operations to an area away from their stationed location are shown against their most recent stationed location.Figures containing Reserve personnel are estimates because the station location data for Reserves has not been fully verified.The figure has been rounded to the nearest 10 to prevent inadvertent disclosure of personal identities. However, numbers ending in “5” have been rounded to the nearest 20 to prevent systematic bias.

Ministry of Defence: ICT

Matt Rodda: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential national security risks associated with IT infrastructure operated by (a) his Department's arm’s-length bodies and (b) private firms under contract to his Department.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) takes the security of its IT infrastructure, that of its arm’s length bodies and of its suppliers, very seriously. However, the MOD does not comment on specific details of individual risk assessments as this could give useful information to potential adversaries. Defence employs a Cyber Risk Management Framework that regularly reviews and escalates risk. This uses evidence from a variety of sources including as the Cabinet Office’s Gov Assure ‘Cyber Assessment Framework’ (CAF). All Defence Organisations, including ALBs, sit within this framework. MOD contracts are subject to a risk assessment which is used to determine the nature of the control measures should be applied to the contract. The Cyber Resilience Strategy for Defence is driving a programme of work to improve Defence’s cyber security. In the longer term the MOD’s Secure by Design approach will ensure security is built into our capability programmes from the outset and managed effectively on a through life basis. The MOD is also reducing the cyber security risk across its complex legacy estate by improving its ability to respond to and detect cyber incidents, improve cyber awareness across the workforce, and improve resilience in it supply.

Armed Forces: Housing

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 2 May 2024 to Question 24130 on Armed Forces: Housing, what these figures are for Scotland.

James Cartlidge: Following further interrogation of the figures, it was discovered that due to a technical error some data was missed from the response to Question 24130. The correct information can be found below: 427,123 callouts have been made to Single Living Accommodation properties for maintenance issues since April 2022. 472,317 callouts have been made to Service Family Accommodation properties for maintenance issues since April 2022. Of these: 24,970 callouts have been made to Single Living Accommodation properties for maintenance issues in Scotland since April 2022. 26,206 callouts have been made to Service Family Accommodation properties for maintenance issues in Scotland since April 2022.

RAF Brize Norton

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many service personnel are based at RAF Brize Norton as of May 2024.

Dr Andrew Murrison: As at 1 January 2024, there were 4450 UK Armed Forces Service personnel stationed at RAF Brize Norton. Please note, UK Forces Service Personnel comprises UK Regular Forces, Gurkhas, Military Provost Guard Service (MPGS), Locally Engaged Personnel , Volunteer Reserve, Serving Regular Reserve, Sponsored Reserve, and Full-Time Reserve Service (FTRS) of unknown origin. University Air Squadron Officer Cadets are excluded. The figure includes trained and untrained personnel. The figure includes Reserve personnel and is therefore an estimate because the stationed location data for Reserves has not been fully verified. The figure has been rounded to the nearest 10. However, numbers ending in "5" have been rounded to the nearest 20 to prevent systematic bias. Data has been provided as at 1 January 2024 to align with published Quarterly Service Personnel Statistics.

Albermarle Barracks

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost to the public purse was of improvements to service accommodation at Albermarle Barracks since April 2022.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost to the public purse was of improvements to service accommodation at Weeton Barracks since April 2022.

James Cartlidge: The table below shows how much the Department has spent on improvements to Service Family Accommodation and Single Living Accommodation at each establishment since April 2022:  Service Family AccommodationSingle Living AccommodationAlbermarle Barracks£2,233,044£212,283Weeton Barracks£13,411,052£107,278

F-35 Aircraft: Procurement

Mr Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has plans to procure F35A aircraft.

James Cartlidge: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave to the right hon. Member for Wentworth and Dearne (John Healey) on 16 June 2023 to Question 188192.F-35 Aircraft: Procurement (docx, 28.2KB)

Queen Elizabeth Barracks

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many service personnel were based at Queen Elizabeth Barracks as of 2 May 2024.

Dr Andrew Murrison: As at 1 January 2024, there were 670 UK Armed Forces Service personnel stationed at Queen Elizabeth Barracks. Please note the following caveats: The number of UK Armed Forces Service personnel stationed at Queen Elizabeth Barracks can only be provided as at 1 January 2024 in line with Published National Statistics.This figure comprises UK Regular Forces, Gurkhas, Military Provost Guard Service (MPGS), Locally Engaged Personnel (LEP), Volunteer Reserve, Serving Regular Reserve, Sponsored Reserve and Full Time Reserve Service (FTRS) of unknown origin. University Officer Cadets are excluded. The figure includes both trained and untrained personnel.The figure is based on Service personnel’s stationed location and not their location of residence – where personnel work is not necessarily where they live. Personnel deployed on operations to an area away from their stationed location are shown against their most recent stationed location.Figures containing Reserve personnel are estimates because the station location data for Reserves has not been fully verified.The figure has been rounded to the nearest 10 to prevent inadvertent disclosure of personal identities. However, numbers ending in “5” have been rounded to the nearest 20 to prevent systematic bias.

Armed Forces: Training

Dame Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of members of the armed forces were graded as unconditioned following a conditioning review in each year since 2018.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Soldier Conditioning Review (SCR) applies to Army Personnel only. There are no fitness or health gradings of ‘unconditioned’.

Military Aircraft: Helicopters

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the total cost to his Department was of the five Airbus H135 helicopters purchased under Project Matcha.

James Cartlidge: The total cost of Project MATCHA to date is £38.56 million.

Catterick Garrison

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost to the public purse was of improvements to service accommodation at Catterick Garrison since April 2022.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost to the public purse was of improvements to service accommodation at Ypres Barracks since April 2022.

James Cartlidge: Catterick Garrison contains a number of different establishments within the site, including Ypres Barracks. A breakdown of the Departments spend on improving Single Living Accommodation (SLA) since 2022 at each of the establishments which form Catterick Garrison, is shown in the table below: CatterickSingle Living AccommodationAlma£1,734,959Megiddo£0Cambrai£37,592Bourlon£100,225Richmondshire Lines£180,322Marne Barracks£1,758,000Somme£6,148,312Gaza£97,670Vimy Barracks£69,431Catterick Town (CGIF)£0Piave and Bapaumme Barracks£28,760Peronne Lines£0Command and Staff Trainer North£0Beach Head / Ypres lines£9,959Helles£3,224 There are no SLA units at Megiddo, Catterick Town (CGIF) and Peronne Lines and no improvements have been made to Command and Staff Trainer North sites since 2022. £26,776,398 has been spent on improvements to SFA at Catterick Garrison, since 2022. This figure cannot be split out separately.

Armed Forces: Defence Equipment

Mr Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what equipment programmes within the (a) Royal Navy, (b) Army, (b) Strategic Command and (d) Royal Air Force were deleted following the most recent annual budget cycle round.

James Cartlidge: The Department is reviewing its forward spending plans following the Government's announcement that defence spending will reach 2.5% of GDP in 2030.

Armed Forces: Health

Dame Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of armed forces personnel were (a) Medically Not Deployable and (b) Medically Limited Deployable in each year since 2010, broken down by service branch.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The following table provides the number (n) and proportion of UK Armed Forces personnel, broken down by Service, with a Medical Deployability Standard of Medically Limited Deployable (MLD) and Medically Non-Deployable (MND), as at 1 April of each year from 2010 to 2023:ServiceRoyal NavyArmyRAF MLDMNDMLDMNDMLDMNDDaten%n%n%n%n%n%01-Apr-101,8435.2%2,9388.3%14,78614.5%6,7366.6%1,4723.7%3,9419.8%01-Apr-111,9955.6%2,8828.1%15,21715.0%6,9526.9%1,6164.0%3,9669.9%01-Apr-121,7865.4%2,8668.6%14,31914.5%7,4807.6%1,5614.1%3,86510.1%01-Apr-131,8255.8%2,6978.6%12,23713.0%8,0218.5%1,4024.0%3,63410.3%01-Apr-141,7325.7%2,8599.4%10,66712.2%7,9389.1%1,4124.3%3,59910.8%01-Apr-151,8466.1%2,8409.4%10,12212.3%8,24610.0%1,4334.5%3,46110.9%01-Apr-161,9326.5%2,8929.7%10,00112.5%8,30810.4%1,6185.2%3,62211.7%01-Apr-172,0446.9%2,7229.2%9,97112.7%7,89010.1%1,8456.0%3,30410.7%01-Apr-182,0326.9%2,7629.4%10,00513.0%6,9079.0%1,9526.4%3,32110.9%01-Apr-192,1457.3%2,8649.8%9,96413.3%6,7028.9%2,1397.1%3,48011.6%01-Apr-202,2797.8%2,93010.1%9,43412.8%6,6679.0%2,3107.8%3,67512.4%01-Apr-212,3968.1%2,8999.8%8,93711.6%6,4478.4%2,3998.0%3,45511.5%01-Apr-222,3067.7%3,27911.0%9,38812.2%7,6009.8%2,4588.2%3,88413.0%01-Apr-232,1977.5%3,28611.2%9,26312.4%7,66910.2%2,4888.5%4,08113.9%

Armed Forces: Recruitment

Dame Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many applications to join the armed forces were rejected due to poor fitness in every year since 2015.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The information requested is shown in the attached tables.AF Applications; Rejection on poor fitness (docx, 22.7KB)

Claro Barracks

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many service personnel were based at Claro Barracks as of 2 May 2024.

Dr Andrew Murrison: As at 1 January 2024, there were 660 UK Armed Forces Service Personnel stationed at Claro Barracks. Please note the following caveats: The number of UK Armed Forces Service Personnel stationed at Claro Barracks can only be provided as at 1 January 2024 in line with Published National Statistics.This figure comprises UK Regular Forces, Gurkhas, Military Provost Guard Service (MPGS), Locally Engaged Personnel (LEP), Volunteer Reserve, Serving Regular Reserve, Sponsored Reserve and Full Time Reserve Service (FTRS) of unknown origin. University Officer Cadets are excluded. The figure includes both trained and untrained personnel.The figure is based on Service personnel’s stationed location and not their location of residence – where personnel work is not necessarily where they live. Personnel deployed on operations to an area away from their stationed location are shown against their most recent stationed location.Figures containing Reserve personnel are estimates because the station location data for Reserves has not been fully verified.The figure has been rounded to the nearest 10 to prevent inadvertent disclosure of personal identities. However, numbers ending in “5” have been rounded to the nearest 20 to prevent systematic bias.

Alanbrooke Barracks

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many service personnel were based at Alanbrooke Barracks as of 2 May 2024.

Dr Andrew Murrison: As at 1 January 2024, there were 460 UK Armed Forces Service Personnel stationed at Alanbrooke Barracks, Topcliffe. Please note the following caveats: The number of UK Armed Forces Service Personnel stationed at Alanbrooke Barracks, Topcliffe can only be provided as at 1 January 2024 in line with Published National Statistics.This figure comprises UK Regular Forces, Gurkhas, Military Provost Guard Service (MPGS), Locally Engaged Personnel (LEP), Volunteer Reserve, Serving Regular Reserve, Sponsored Reserve and Full Time Reserve Service (FTRS) of unknown origin. University Officer Cadets are excluded. The figure includes both trained and untrained personnel.The figure is based on Service personnel’s stationed location and not their location of residence – where personnel work is not necessarily where they live. Personnel deployed on operations to an area away from their stationed location are shown against their most recent stationed location.Figures containing Reserve personnel are estimates because the station location data for Reserves has not been fully verified.The figure has been rounded to the nearest 10 to prevent inadvertent disclosure of personal identities. However, numbers ending in “5” have been rounded to the nearest 20 to prevent systematic bias.

Catterick Garrison

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many service personnel are based at Ypres Barracks as of 1 May 2024.

Dr Andrew Murrison: As at 1 January 2024, there were 130 UK Armed Forces Service Personnel stationed at Ypres Barracks. Please note the following caveats: The number of UK Armed Forces Service Personnel stationed at Ypres Barracks can only be provided as at 1 January 2024 in line with Published National Statistics.This figure comprises UK Regular Forces, Gurkhas, Military Provost Guard Service (MPGS), Locally Engaged Personnel (LEP), Volunteer Reserve, Serving Regular Reserve, Sponsored Reserve and Full Time Reserve Service (FTRS) of unknown origin. University Officer Cadets are excluded. The figure includes both trained and untrained personnel.The figure is based on Service personnel’s stationed location and not their location of residence – where personnel work is not necessarily where they live. Personnel deployed on operations to an area away from their stationed location are shown against their most recent stationed location.Figures containing Reserve personnel are estimates because the station location data for Reserves has not been fully verified.The figure has been rounded to the nearest 10 to prevent inadvertent disclosure of personal identities. However, numbers ending in “5” have been rounded to the nearest 20 to prevent systematic bias.

Yemen: Houthis

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what threat assessment he has made of Houthi military capabilities; and whether he has plans for further strikes in Yemen.

Leo Docherty: The UK and our allies have responded decisively to the attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea from the Houthis’ dangerous and illegal attacks with limited, necessary and proportionate strike action on Houthi targets in self-defence. Every mission carried out by RAF aircraft is analysed carefully and informed by robust intelligence. We will not comment on operational activity.

Middle East: Armed Forces

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure the protection of British troops deployed in the Middle East.

Leo Docherty: The Ministry of Defence constantly reviews its force protection measures to ensure they are appropriate, however, for operational security reasons I cannot comment on the specifics of this activity.

Gaza: Military Aid

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he expects the temporary pier in Gaza to be operational; and whether UK troops will have a role in protecting it.

Leo Docherty: In the continued effort to increase the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza a temporary pier is being constructed off the coast to enable delivery as quickly and securely as possible; the US Department of Defense aim to have the pier operational in May 2024. That work is ongoing with the US, Cyprus and other partners. RFA Cardigan Bay has been deployed to the Eastern Mediterranean to provide support to the US personnel working to establish the pier. As of 2 May, UK personnel will not be undertaking roles protecting the pier.

Gaza: RFA Cardigan Bay

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how long RFA Cardigan Bay will be deployed to Gaza; and what role the armed forces will play in the construction of the temporary pier.

Leo Docherty: RFA Cardigan Bay has been deployed to the Eastern Mediterranean, however, we will not comment on the duration of the deployment. RFA Cardigan Bay does not have a direct role in construction but will provide support to the US personnel working to establish the pier.

Air Force: Israel

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many planes operated by the Royal Air Force have landed in (a) Lebanon, (b) Egypt, (c) Jordan and (d) Syria since 7 October 2023.

Leo Docherty: The RAF undertakes regular flights to the Middle East region as part of our routine engagement and to conduct humanitarian aid airdrops as part of the Jordanian led mission. For operational security considerations we will not comment further.

Gaza: Military Aid

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how the Royal Fleet Auxiliary will support the delivery of aid to Gaza.

Leo Docherty: RFA Cardigan Bay has been deployed to the Eastern Mediterranean to provide support to an international effort to build a temporary pier to allow delivery of humanitarian aid directly from the sea into Gaza. This support will involve the provision of accommodation for hundreds of US sailors and soldiers working to establish the pier.

Air Force: Israel

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many planes operated by the Royal Air Force have taken off from Israel since 7 October 2023.

Leo Docherty: There have been 59 Royal Air Force aircraft that have taken off from Israel from 7 October 2023 to 9 May 2024.

Gaza: Military Aid

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when the last delivery of aid by the Royal Air Force to Gaza took place; and how frequently aid will be delivered in the coming months.

Leo Docherty: As of 2 May 2024, the most recent air drop by the RAF took place on 30 April. This brought the total of UK airdrops conducted as part of the Jordanian led mission to ten, delivering over 98 tonnes of vital humanitarian aid to Gaza. The FCDO are the HMG lead for humanitarian aid and its delivery.

National Cyber Force: Salmesbury

Mr Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress has been made on establishing the National Cyber Force headquarters at Salmesbury.

Leo Docherty: The National Cyber Force (NCF) headquarters in Samlesbury is currently undergoing construction, with progress remaining on track to open in 2025. NCF is planning for several hundred personnel to be based there within the first 12 months.

RAF Akrotiri

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many planes operated by the US Air Force have taken off from RAF Akrotiri since 7 October 2023.

Leo Docherty: The Ministry of Defence does not comment on the operations of our Allies.

Israel: Air Force

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish details of the items that Royal Air Force operated planes landing in Israel since 7 October 2023 have carried on board.

Leo Docherty: Royal Air Force operated planes landing in Israel since 7 October 2023 have been used by Ministers, officials and UK Armed Forces personnel conducting diplomatic and defence engagement, and to transport life-saving medical supplies.

Israel: Air Force

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many personnel from his Department have been transported to Israel on RAF operated planes since 7 October 2023.

Leo Docherty: Ministers, officials and UK Armed Forces personnel have travelled to Israel using RAF aircraft. This information is not held centrally within the Ministry of Defence, we are unable to give a specific number.

Israel: Air Force

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Royal Air Force operated planes have flown to Israel since 24 April 2024.

Leo Docherty: As of 8 May 2024, two Royal Air Force operated planes have flown to Israel since 24 April 2024.

Ukraine: Military Aid

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans his Department has to continue Operation Interflex beyond September 2024.

Leo Docherty: We continually assess how we can improve our training offer to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Operation INTERFLEX remains our main training effort in support of Ukraine and, together with 12 partner nations, we have trained over 39,000 Ukrainian personnel since June 2022. The UK is committed to working with partners to meet Ukraine's training requirements now and in the future.

Armed Forces: Protective Clothing

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on body armour in the last five years.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on body armour adapted for female service personnel in the last five years.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many units of body armour adapted for female soldiers his Department has purchased in the last five years.

James Cartlidge: The Dismounted Close Combat (DCC) team has spent approximately £37.9 million on body armour (hard armour plates, soft armour, and textile for body armour vests) for soldiers in the last five years (April 2019-March 2024). This figure is based on today’s unit costs; due to the way accounting records are held, it would only be possible to provide an exact figure at disproportionate cost. The DCC team does not procure body armour according to gender, but rather sources equipment to suit soldiers of all sizes.

Army: Ammunition

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to Defence Equipment and Support's article entitled DE&S places new order with BAE Systems to increase 155mm shells stockpile for British Army, published on 11 July 2023, when his Department expects to achieve an eight-fold increase in 155mm ammunition production.

James Cartlidge: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 25 July 2023 to Question 194703. Ammunition (docx, 14.7KB)

Ministry of Defence: Expenditure

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Oral Statement of 24 April 2024, Official Report, column 939, if he will publish details of how his Department's increase in spending will be funded.

James Cartlidge: The uplift will be funded by providing Defence with a greater share of the Government's overall R&D budget, and by reducing headcount in the Civil Service to pre-pandemic levels by 2029-30.

Victoria Barracks Ballater

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many service personnel were based at Victoria Barracks, Ballater as of 2 May 2024.

Dr Andrew Murrison: As at 1 January 2024, there were no UK Armed Forces Service Personnel stationed at Victoria Barracks, Ballater.

Dishforth Airfield

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many service personnel were based at Dishforth Barracks, Thirsk as of 2 May 2024.

Dr Andrew Murrison: As at 1 January 2024, there were 450 UK Armed Forces Service Personnel stationed at Dishforth Barracks. Please note the following caveats: The number of UK Armed Forces Service Personnel stationed at Dishforth Barracks can only be provided as at 1 January 2024 in line with Published National Statistics.This figure comprises UK Regular Forces, Gurkhas, Military Provost Guard Service (MPGS), Locally Engaged Personnel (LEP), Volunteer Reserve, Serving Regular Reserve, Sponsored Reserve and Full Time Reserve Service (FTRS) of unknown origin. University Officer Cadets are excluded. The figure includes both trained and untrained personnel.The figure is based on Service personnel’s stationed location and not their location of residence – where personnel work is not necessarily where they live. Personnel deployed on operations to an area away from their stationed location are shown against their most recent stationed location.Figures containing Reserve personnel are estimates because the station location data for Reserves has not been fully verified.The figure has been rounded to the nearest 10 to prevent inadvertent disclosure of personal identities. However, numbers ending in “5” have been rounded to the nearest 20 to prevent systematic bias.

Weeton Barracks

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many service personnel are based at Weeton Barracks.

Dr Andrew Murrison: As at 1 January 2024, there were 30 UK Armed Forces Service Personnel stationed at Weeton Barracks. Please note the following caveats: The number of UK Armed Forces Service Personnel stationed at Weeton Barracks can only be provided as at 1 January 2024 in line with Published National Statistics.This figure comprises UK Regular Forces, Gurkhas, Military Provost Guard Service (MPGS), Locally Engaged Personnel (LEP), Volunteer Reserve, Serving Regular Reserve, Sponsored Reserve and Full Time Reserve Service (FTRS) of unknown origin. University Officer Cadets are excluded. The figure includes both trained and untrained personnel.The figure is based on Service personnel’s stationed location and not their location of residence – where personnel work is not necessarily where they live. Personnel deployed on operations to an area away from their stationed location are shown against their most recent stationed location.Figures containing Reserve personnel are estimates because the station location data for Reserves has not been fully verified.The figure has been rounded to the nearest 10 to prevent inadvertent disclosure of personal identities. However, numbers ending in “5” have been rounded to the nearest 20 to prevent systematic bias.

Albermarle Barracks

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many service personnel are based at Albermarle Barracks as of 1 May 2024.

Dr Andrew Murrison: As at 1 January 2024, there were 410 UK Armed Forces Service Personnel stationed at Albemarle Barracks. Please note the following caveats: The number of UK Armed Forces Service Personnel stationed at Albemarle Barracks can only be provided as at 1 January 2024 in line with Published National Statistics.This figure comprises UK Regular Forces, Gurkhas, Military Provost Guard Service (MPGS), Locally Engaged Personnel (LEP), Volunteer Reserve, Serving Regular Reserve, Sponsored Reserve and Full Time Reserve Service (FTRS) of unknown origin. University Officer Cadets are excluded. The figure includes both trained and untrained personnel.The figure is based on Service personnel’s stationed location and not their location of residence – where personnel work is not necessarily where they live. Personnel deployed on operations to an area away from their stationed location are shown against their most recent stationed location.Figures containing Reserve personnel are estimates because the station location data for Reserves has not been fully verified.The figure has been rounded to the nearest 10 to prevent inadvertent disclosure of personal identities. However, numbers ending in “5” have been rounded to the nearest 20 to prevent systematic bias.

Army Foundation College

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) service personnel and (b) Army recruits are based at Army Foundation College as of 1 May 2024.

James Cartlidge: As at 1 January 2024, there were 300 Trade Trained personnel and 860 Recruits stationed at the Army Foundation College (Harrogate).

Catterick Garrison

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many service personnel are based at Catterick Garrison as of 29 April 2024.

Dr Andrew Murrison: As at 1 January 2024, there were 7,020 UK Armed Forces Service Personnel stationed at Catterick Garrison.

HMNB Clyde

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on improving service accommodation at HMNB Clyde since April 2022.

James Cartlidge: There has been no new accommodation built at His Majesty's Naval Base Clyde during the period from April 2022 to March 2024. Accommodation improvements are being carried out under the Future Maritime Support Programme Contract and approximately £687,000 has been spent on this work in the period since April 2022.

RAF Lossiemouth

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on improving service accommodation at RAF Lossiemouth since April 2022.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on improving service accommodation at RAF Kirknewton since April 2022.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on improving service accommodation at RRH Benbecula since April 2022.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on improving service accommodation at RRH Buchan since April 2022.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on improving service accommodation at RAF Saxa Vord since April 2022.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on improving service accommodation at Kinloss Barracks since April 2022.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on improving service accommodation at Glencorse Barracks since April 2022.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on improving service accommodation at Dreghorn Barracks since April 2022.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on improving service accommodation at Redford Barracks since April 2022.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on improving service accommodation at Cameron Barracks since April 2022.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on improving service accommodation at Leuchars Station since April 2022.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on improving service accommodation at RM Condor since April 2022.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on improving service accommodation at HMS Dalraiada since April 2022.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on improving service accommodation at (a) HMS Caledonia and (b) HMS Scotia since April 2022.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on improving service accommodation at University Royal Naval Unit East Scotland since April 2022.

James Cartlidge: The below table provides information concerning how much the Department has spent improving Service Family Accommodation (SFA) and Single Living Accommodation (SLA) at each of the establishments, since 2022:  Service Family AccommodationSingle Living AccommodationRAF Lossiemouth£4,094,738£6,197,356.91RAF Kirknewton£0£14,560.80RRH Benbecula£0£0RRH Buchan£0£0RAF Saxa Vord£0£0Kinloss Barracks£1,464,387£471,500.62Glencorse Barracks£0£617,322Dreghorn Barracks£0£5,533,352Redford Barracks£0£225,694Cameron Barracks£616,030£0Leuchars Station£1,282,762£38,469.15RM Condor£1,034,471£366,096.15HMS Dalraiada£0£0HMS Caledonia£0£344,789HMS Scotia£0NilUniversity Royal Naval Unit East Scotland -  Edinburgh£0£0University Royal Naval Unit East Scotland -  Glasgow£0£0 There is no onsite SLA at Benbecula, Buchan, RAF Saxa Vord, HMS Dalriada, University Royal Naval Unit East Scotland, Edinburgh and University Royal Naval Unit East Scotland, Glasgow.

Catterick Garrison

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many service personnel are based at Bourlon Barracks as of 29 April 2024.

James Cartlidge: As at 1 January 2024, there were 710 UK Armed Forces Service personnel stationed at Bourlon Barracks.

Department for Work and Pensions

Unemployment: Young People

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to make the local District Provision Tool available to local partners in London to help (a) tackle youth unemployment and (b) increase education and training opportunities.

Mims Davies: A version of the District Provision Tool is available for local partners to use on GOV.UK and can be found at here.

Employment: Disability

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will review the Disability Confident scheme.

Mims Davies: DWP is committed to strengthening the Disability Confident Scheme to ensure it remains credible, sufficiently challenging, and continues to support the employment of disabled people. Key to this is the implementation of the recommendations from the review including work to strengthen the criteria for all employers and tailoring the scheme for SMEs. On 9 April 2024 DWP published a revised version of the Disability Confident Line Manager’s Guide, in collaboration with the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), providing a range of guidance to support businesses of all sizes. Further changes to the scheme criteria stemming from these recommendations are well underway and we expect to have fully implemented them by the end of March 2025. The Department is continuing to work with a wide range of stakeholders, including employers, disability charities, and disabled people’s organisations to develop, and grow the scheme to increase the number of inclusive employers in the UK.

Unemployment: Older People

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support his Department provides to older jobseekers in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England who are looking to (i) reskill or (ii) change careers.

Jo Churchill: Eligible older jobseekers on Universal Credit benefit from Additional Work Coach Time (AWCT) and the delivery of Mid Life MOTs in Jobcentres across England which support people to review their health, wealth and skills. 77 50PLUS Champions are working in all 37 Districts across England, Wales and Scotland, and personalise support, including helping customers to reskill or change career. At the 2023 Budget, the Chancellor announced increasing skills provision through Returnerships for those aged 50 and over which bring together three programmes to support older workers. These include Accelerated Apprenticeships, Skills Bootcamps and Sector-Based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs).

Pensioners: Housing Benefit

Dame Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many pensioner households are entitled to but not in receipt of housing benefit.

Mims Davies: DWP annually publishes estimates of benefit take up, which includes Housing Benefit for pensioners. The latest official statistics can be found here.

Personal Independence Payment: Carers

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people who claimed Carer's Allowance were caring for someone in receipt of a Personal Independence Payment in the past 12 months.

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people who claimed Carer's Allowance also claimed a Personal Independence Payment in the past 12 months.

Mims Davies: This information is only available at disproportionate cost to The Department for Work & Pensions as the Department does not have a business requirement for this information to be retained.

Personal Independence Payment: Carers

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of his Department's proposed changes to Personal Independence Payments on unpaid carers.

Mims Davies: Modernising Support for Independent Living: The Health and Disability Green Paper looks at different options to reshape the current welfare system so that we can provide better targeted support to those who need it most. We are considering these options through our 12-week consultation which was published on Monday 29 April and will close on Monday 22 July at 11:59pm. Any possible impacts on unpaid carers will be considered as necessary. There will be no immediate changes to PIP, or to health assessments. All scheduled PIP assessments and payments will proceed as normal, and claimants should continue to engage as usual and provide any necessary information or updates regarding their circumstances. We encourage everyone to respond to the consultation which can be found here, so that we are able to hear from as many disabled people, people with health conditions, their representatives, and local stakeholders as possible on these important issues.

Access to Work Programme

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people are awaiting a decision on their Access to Work applications as of 1 May 2024.

Mims Davies: As of 1st May 2024, there were 36,184 applications awaiting a decision on their Access to Work application.

Government Departments: Disability

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to support the establishment of accessibility champions in each Department.

Mims Davies: We already have a Ministerial Disability Champion in each government department. At the request of the Prime Minister, the first Ministerial Disability Champions were appointed in summer 2020, to drive the development and delivery of the National Disability Strategy (NDS). Their role is to:ensure disability inclusion is a priority in their department’s work;help drive the delivery of the commitments in the National Disability Strategy and the actions in the Disability Action Plan; andhelp deliver the government’s commitment to support disabled people in the UK through creating more opportunities, protecting their rights and ensuring they fully benefit from, and can contribute to, every aspect of our society. The Ministerial Disability Champions meet regularly throughout the year. The Minister of State for Disabled People, Health and Work, Mims Davies MP, is the chair. A full list of Ministerial Disability Champions can be found on Gov.UK here.

Employment: Disability

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to close the disability employment gap.

Mims Davies: Good work is generally good for health. This is why in the Health and Disability White Paper the Government reaffirmed its commitment to close the disability employment gap and stated its intention to set a new disability employment ambition. The latest figures, released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for October to December 2023, showed that he disability employment gap was 27.9 percentage points. This was a decrease of 1.9 percentage points on the year. However, the ONS have advised caution when interpreting short-term changes due to the recent volatility in the data. Disabled people and people with health conditions are a diverse group so access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key. The Government therefore has an ambitious programme of initiatives to support disabled people and people with health conditions to start, stay and succeed in work. These include:The Work and Health Programme providing tailored and personalised support for disabled people;Access to Work grants helping towards extra costs of working beyond standard reasonable adjustments;Disability Confident encouraging employers to think differently about disability and health, and to take positive action to address the issues disabled employees face in the workplace;A digital information service for employers providing better integrated and tailored guidance on supporting health and disability in the workplace;Increasing access to Occupational Health, including the testing of financial incentives for small and medium-sized enterprises and the self-employed;Additional Work Coach support in Jobcentres for disabled people and people with health conditions to help them move towards and in to work;Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres offering advice and expertise on how to help disabled people and people with health conditions into work;Work in partnership between the DWP and health systems, including:o Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies, which combines psychological treatment and employment support for people with mental health conditions; ando The Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care programme, a Supported Employment model (place, train and maintain) delivered in health settings, aimed at people with physical or common mental health disabilities to support them to access paid jobs in the open labour market; Building on this, we announced significant additional investment during the 2023 fiscal events. Alongside the delivery of our existing initiatives, we are now focused on delivering this package which includes:A new voluntary employment programme called Universal Support (US) for 100,000 people per year when fully rolled out in England and Wales. This programme will provide up to a year of ongoing wraparound support for people with health conditions to stay and succeed in work;WorkWell, which will bring together the NHS, local authorities and other partners, in collaboration with jobcentres, to provide light touch work and health support for approximately 60,000 people. The WorkWell services will be in place from autumn 2024 and will be delivered in 15 pilot areas;Building on the extension of the certification of the fit notes to a wider range of healthcare professions, we are exploring new ways of providing individuals receiving a fit note with timely access to work and health support. Through a Call for Evidence we are currently seeking views from those with lived experiences, healthcare professionals and employers;Introducing Employment Advisors to Musculoskeletal Conditions (MSK) services in England, helping individuals with MSK conditions to return to or remain in employment (work in partnership between DWP and health systems); andPublishing the Government response to the Occupational Health: Working Better consultation. This included establishing an expert group to support the development of the voluntary national baseline for Occupational Health provisionFrom 2025, we are reforming the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) to reflect new flexibilities in the labour market and greater employment opportunities for disabled people and people with health conditions, whilst maintaining protections for those with the most significant conditions. Alongside these changes, a new Chance to Work Guarantee will effectively remove the WCA for most existing claimants who have already been assessed without work-related requirements removing the fear of reassessment and giving this group the confidence to try work.

Employment: Disability

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to introduce mandatory disability reporting for organisations with at least 250 employees.

Mims Davies: In the National Disability Strategy (NDS), the Cabinet Office committed to leading a consultation on workforce reporting on disability for large employers exploring both voluntary and mandated workplace transparency. A formal consultation ran from 16 December 2021 to 25 March 2022. Work on the disability workforce reporting consultation was paused in line with other work deriving from the NDS whilst a legal challenge on the NDS was ongoing. Following a successful appeal, we have now commenced analysis of the consultation responses and will publish the consultation response findings in 2024.

Department for Work and Pensions: ICT

Matt Rodda: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the guidance by the Central Digital and Data Office entitled Guidance on the Legacy IT Risk Assessment Framework, published on 29 September 2023, how many red-rated IT systems are used by his Department; and how many red-rated IT systems have been identified since 4 December 2023.

Paul Maynard: I refer the hon. Member to a previous response I provided to Question UIN 3652. There have been no changes following the previous response. We continually monitor our Legacy IT systems to ensure any emerging risks are recorded and managed effectively.

Social Security Benefits: Chronic Illnesses

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Prime Minister's speech on welfare of 19 April 2024, if he will publish equality impact assessments made in connection with the proposals announced in that speech.

Mims Davies: The Secretary of State has complied with his duties under the Equality Act 2010 in respect of the policies announced within the PM's speech. We will continue to consider equalities impacts and take any decisions about publication as policies develop.

Employment: Autism

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department issues guidance to Departments on supporting candidates with autism through job recruitment boards.

Mims Davies: The Department for Work and Pensions does not issue guidance to other departments on supporting candidates with autism through job recruitment boards. This falls within the remit of the Government People Group, within the Cabinet Office.All candidates requiring a reasonable adjustment are able to request one during their application. There is also some general information on Reasonable Adjustments on the Civil Service Careers page, including the links to Disability Confidence Scheme and what the Reasonable Adjustment process via CS Jobs will involve.

Housing Benefit

Dame Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to help increase the uptake of housing benefit in (a) Wallasey constituency, (b) Wirral, (c) the North West and (d) the United Kingdom.

Mims Davies: With the completion of the rollout of Universal Credit in December 2018, new claims for HB are predominately for pensioners and are administered by Local Authorities.

Local Housing Allowance

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has plans to distinguish between (a) studio and (b) one bedroom apartments in Local Housing Allowance rates.

Mims Davies: A one-bedroom rate for the calculation of Local Housing Allowance is defined as accommodation where the tenant has the exclusive use of only one bedroom and exclusive use of a kitchen, a bathroom, a toilet and a room suitable for living in. This includes studio apartments. There are no plans to change this definition. Housing support is calculated according to the number of bedrooms a person needs based on the size of their household. The maximum housing costs support is the lower of the actual rent and service charges or the relevant Local Housing Allowance rate.

Question

Jeff Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of people in destitution.

Jo Churchill: The Government is committed to reducing poverty and supporting low-income families. We expect to spend around £306bn through the welfare system in Great Britain in 2024/25 including around £138bn on people of working age and children. From April, working age benefits increased by 6.7% and, Local Housing Allowance rates were raised to the 30th percentile of local market rents, benefiting 1.6 million low-income households.

Football: Injuries

Ian Blackford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will have discussions with the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council on the potential merits of classifying people with football-related brain injuries as having industrial injuries.

Mims Davies: The Department is advised by the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council (IIAC), an independent scientific body, on changes to the list of occupational diseases for which Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) can be paid. We have met recently with the Chair of IIAC, and will continue to engage with IIAC as appropriate. We can confirm that IIAC is currently considering whether there is a link between certain neurodegenerative diseases (NDD) and professional sportspeople. IIAC found studies covering a range of NDD, which is an umbrella term covering diseases such as ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), dementia and MND (motor neuron disease). IIAC is initially considering ALS where there is currently more evidence than for other diseases and will need to give more consideration to the evidence before it can make a decision. IIAC will also likely consult experts (neurologists) in this field and will then publish its findings when the investigation is complete. It would be premature to speculate on how IIAC’s investigation will progress or whether there is enough evidence of a link between certain neurodegenerative diseases and professional sportspeople to meet the threshold for a new ‘prescribed disease’ to be recommended by IIAC for the purpose of IIDB entitlement. If recommendations are made by IIAC on this matter, they will be carefully considered by the Department.

Social Security Benefits

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of the benefit cap on people living in regions with high housing costs outside of Greater London; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) aligning the benefit cap with Local Housing Allowance rates and (b) exempting housing-related benefits from a benefits cap set at a lower rate.

Jo Churchill: No assessment has been made and there are no current plans to change the policy.

Universal Credit

Margaret Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of households awarded transitional protection under the Move to Universal Credit programme have subsequently lost that protection because of a change of circumstances.

Jo Churchill: The information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Statutory Sick Pay

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to increase statutory sick pay in line with the living wage.

Jo Churchill: The Government has already increased the rate of SSP this year, in April the rate of SSP was increased by 6.7% to £116.75. This represents a £20 per week increase in the rate of SSP since 2021. SSP is just one part of our welfare safety net and our wider Government offer to support people in times of need. Anybody who is on a low level of income during the period that they are sick and who requires further financial support may be able to claim Universal Credit, depending on their personal circumstances.

Universal Credit

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether additional funding is available to local authorities to provide services to assist people with Universal Credit claims where those services are not available through Citizens Advice.

Jo Churchill: Help to Claim (HtC) was developed and delivered from 2019, and continues to be delivered by Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland independently across England, Scotland, and Wales. A further £38m investment is planned for HtC for two years from April 2024. HtC provides tailored practical support to anyone who needs it and it enables individuals requiring additional support to make and maintain their UC claim, up until their first correct UC payment. HtC supports customers through telephony and digital channels (including webchat). Where somebody is unable to make a digital UC Claim they will support that person to make a UC Claim by telephone. Those individuals who are unable to access support via these channels will be signposted to their local jobcentre, where staff will identify the right support to meet their needs, face-to-face. Since April 2019, HtC has supported nearly 900,000 people.

Northern Ireland Office

Omagh Bombing Inquiry

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps his Department is taking to ensure legal representation is made available to police veterans called to the Omagh Bombing Inquiry.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The Northern Ireland Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Omagh Bombing Inquiry

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps his Department is taking to ensure mental health support is available to police veterans in relation to the Omagh Bombing Inquiry.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The Government has the deepest sympathy for all of those affected by the Omagh bomb in August 1998, including those members from the uniformed services who were present on the day.I met with representatives of the Military and Police Support of West Tyrone and Omagh Bomb Inquiry Police Support Group when I visited Omagh last week, and they very clearly set out their concerns about the toll that participation in the Inquiry may take on former officer’s mental health and wellbeing.While I was grateful to hear their views - and look forward to doing so again in the future - support for former police officers in respect of their mental health is a devolved issue so is a matter for the Northern Ireland Executive.

Home Office

Shoplifting and Theft

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of scrapping the £200 summary offence rule for shoplifting and theft.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to reduce rates of shoplifting in Portsmouth.

Chris Philp: Since 2010 our communities are safer, with neighbourhood crimes including burglary, robbery and theft from the person down 48% and overall violent crime down 44%, and with more police officers on the streets than in 2010.However, there has been a worrying rise in shoplifting and violence towards retail workers, which we need to address.Police Recorded Crime figures show shoplifting offences increased by 37% in the 12 months to December 2023. Although, the number of people charged with shoplifting offences in the same period rose by 46%, showing the police are heeding the message and taking action.The Government has taken a number of recent significant steps to reduce and prevent retail crime. Our plan – "Fighting retail crime: more action" was launched on 10 April, which highlights five areas of work this Government will drive forward to tackle retail crime. This will include us introducing a presumption towards electronic monitoring as part of a sentence served in the community for those who repeatedly steal from shops. We will develop a retail theft electronic monitoring (EM) ‘package’, to offer sentencers starting in a pilot area, a clear community sentence pathway for repeat retail theft offenders.This builds on the police-led Retail Crime Action Plan, which includes a commitment to prioritise police attendance at the scene where violence has been used towards shop staff, where an offender has been detained by store security, and where evidence needs to be secured and can only be done by police personnel. Figures published by the NPCC show early signs of progress.Furthermore, we will bring forward legislative changes to introduce a presumption towards electronic monitoring as part of a sentence served in the community for those who repeatedly steal from shops. This legislative change will provide that on the third sentencing occasion, an offender would be electronically monitored as part of any community sentence or post-release for the duration of any licence period.Under section 176 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, low-value shoplifting (value of £200 or less) is a summary offence, unless an adult elects to be tried in the Crown Court. Where a summary offence is committed, the case can be handled as a police-led prosecution.Police-led prosecutions were introduced to improve the efficiency of the criminal justice system by allowing for a simpler, more proportionate police-led process in high-volume, low-level, uncontested cases. This route enables cases to be handled more speedily, rather than cases having to go to the CPS and through the Crown Court.Repealing this would mean victims of shoplifting have to wait longer for cases to come to court.

Theft: Retail Trade

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many thefts from retail businesses there have been in each of the last three years.

Chris Philp: Since 2010 theft offences experienced by the general population has fallen by 48%, according to the Crime Survey for England and Wales, but shoplifting has been increasing in the last three years, as shown in the table.Calendar YearNumber of Shoplifting offences2021256,1992022315,0402023430,104Source: ONS Crime in England and Wales: year ending December 2023, Appendix Table A4.There must be a zero tolerance approach to such crime which is why, alongside key partners, this Government is taking concerted action to address the menace of retail crime. The Government’s plan – "Fighting retail crime: more action" was launched on 10 April, and highlights five areas of work this Government will drive forward to tackle retail crime:Introducing a standalone offence for assaults on retail workers;Additional electronic monitoring for prolific shoplifters;Working with police and businesses to roll out the latest facial recognition to catch these perpetrators;Championing good practice to design out crime; andMaking it easier for retailers to report crime.

Alcoholic Drinks: Children

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has had recent discussions with the Police Service of Northern Ireland on tackling underage drinking in Northern Ireland.

Chris Philp: Crime and policing in Northern Ireland are devolved matters and fall within the legislative competence of the Northern Ireland Executive.

Cannabis: Crimes of Violence

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of cannabis use on violent crime.

Chris Philp: No recent assessment has been made. Cannabis is controlled as a Class B drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 as there is clear scientific and medical evidence that cannabis is a harmful drug which can damage people’s mental and physical health, and harms individuals and communities.Cannabis continues to be the most commonly used drug and around 21% of adults starting treatment between 2021 and 2022 said they had a problem with cannabis. Cannabis poses a large number of serious health risks, including psychological disorders such as psychosis and respiratory illness, particularly given recent increases in potency.We know from Dame Carol Black’s landmark review into drugs that there are clear links between the trade in illicit drugs and violence and exploitation.Illicit drug use also makes our communities less safe, with links to anti-social behaviour in public spaces.

Police National Computer: Outages

Dame Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many outages have affected the Police National Computer in each year since 2015.

Dame Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of security measures in place for the Police National Computer.

Dame Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many back-up servers are in operation for the Police National Computer.

Chris Philp: Number of outages affecting the PNC, breakdown below. Partial PNC outages are included in the breakdown. Therefore, elements of the PNC service may have been available during the outage period.Outages on the same day have been counted as separate instances.YearNumber of outages - PlannedNumber of outages - Unplanned20152248201610182017917201813122019412020712202111182022141320231718*202446Total111163* Outages for 2024 are reported up to 31st March 2024. Regular Security IT Health Checks/Audits are undertaken on PNC with actions to manage, mitigate or resolve vulnerabilities progressed to enhance the security of the system. The PNC is security assured by the Police Digital Service on behalf of Policing and in line with HO policy.PNC has a number of back up servers for resilience and mirroring to provide a Disaster Recovery capability from a secondary site. There are numerous back up servers at the primary site and also at the DR site providing several layers of back up for the operation of the PNC****NOTE - providing detail on the numbers of actual servers increases the operational risk to PNC.

Home Office: Contracts

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will publish the specification of requirements for the contracts agreed by his Department on (a) 2 October 2023 with Home Connections Lettings Ltd., procurement reference 433189/1352384, (b) 21 March 2024 with Bunnyfoot Ltd., procurement reference 407485/1352441, (c) 28 March 2024 with Deloitte LLP, procurement reference 417551/1349771 and (d) 1 April 2024 with Faculty Science Ltd., Zinc Network and Adam Smith International Ltd., procurement reference 376900/1351150.

Chris Philp: Summary descriptions of the aim of each agreement have been published on Contracts Finder on gov.uk. These can be found at: ContractURLProc821 Accommodation Matching Software - Contracts Finderhttps://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/notice/b8673d3d-dfb6-4abb-8654-4b926b2220a2?origin=SearchResults&p=1HMPO User Labs for Customer Research - Contracts Finderhttps://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/notice/5a2d36a8-8e59-4591-90b7-c7f62b2e4a45?origin=SearchResults&p=1Economic Crime Consultancy - Contracts Finderhttps://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/notice/e7f24367-d32a-4aa9-97c7-98229214511c?origin=SearchResults&p=1Information Operations Research Capability - Contracts Finderhttps://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/notice/3f8b04c0-2c94-437f-b980-5898230115e0?origin=SearchResults&p=1

Home Office: ICT

Matt Rodda: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the guidance by the Central Digital and Data Office entitled Guidance on the Legacy IT Risk Assessment Framework, published on 29 September 2023, a) how many red-rated IT systems are used by his Department; and how many red-rated IT systems have been identified since 4 December 2023.

Chris Philp: The Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO), in the Cabinet Office, has established a programme to support departments managing legacy IT. CDDO has agreed a framework to identify ‘red-rated’ systems, indicating high levels of risk surrounding certain assets within the IT estate. Departments have committed to have remediation plans in place for these systems by next year (2025).It is not appropriate to release sensitive information held about specific red-rated systems or more detailed plans for remediation within Home Office IT estate, as this information could indicate which systems are at risk, and may highlight potential security vulnerabilities.

Migrant Workers: Sponsorship

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the (a) average and (b) longest waiting times were for processing applications for certificates of sponsorship for skilled workers in each month from November 2023 to April 2024.

Tom Pursglove: The Home Office does not routinely publish data on these matters; however, we have recently deployed an IT change which introduces a new compulsory field for required mandatory information which enables defined certificate of sponsorship applications to move more expediently through the system.

Northern Ireland Strategic Migration Partnership

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 27 February 2024 to Question 15230 on Northern Ireland Strategic Migration Partnership, what each of those multiple agreements in place with Northern Ireland government departments are.

Tom Pursglove: The Home Office continues to engage with Northern Ireland government departments to progress agreements to ensure continued delivery for service users in Northern Ireland. We have agreements with the following departments: The Executive Office, The Department for Health and The Department for Economy.

Asylum

Anne McLaughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what safe and legal routes to the UK are available for (a) refugees and (b) asylum seekers as of 8 May 2024.

Tom Pursglove: We operate global refugee resettlement schemes, including the UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS), the Mandate Resettlement Scheme and community sponsorship. We also run Displaced Talent Mobility Initiatives which help displaced populations to access a Skilled Worker visa.We have country specific schemes which were established in response to international crises in Afghanistan, Ukraine and Hong Kong.For asylum seekers, there is no provision within our Immigration Rules that allows a person to travel to the UK to seek asylum or temporary refuge. Those in need of immediate protection should take the fastest route to safety and claim asylum in the first safe country they reach.

Visas: Skilled Workers

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made an assessment of the potential cost to businesses of the reforms to skilled worker visas.

Tom Pursglove: As set out in the Explanatory Memorandum accompanying the Statement of Changes, laid on 14 March (HC 590), qualitative details on the impact of these changes on the welfare of the UK resident population, as well as quantitative impacts on business, charities, voluntary bodies and the public sector, have been considered.

Undocumented Migrants: English Channel

Sir Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have died while attempting to cross the English Channel to the UK illegally in each year since 2020.

Michael Tomlinson: The Home Office is aware of a total of 69 persons known to have died while attempting to cross the English Channel in small boats since 2020:2020: 6 deaths reported2021: 34 deaths reported2022: 4 deaths reported2023: 12 deaths reported2024: 13 deaths reported (as at 30 April 2024)

Asylum: Rwanda

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will publish a breakdown of how the £171,000 per person deported to Rwanda agreed in the UK-Rwanda Migration and Economic Development Partnership will be spent.

Michael Tomlinson: The most recently published information, which includes a breakdown of the per person costs, is the National Audit Office Report which can be found here: UK-Rwanda Partnership - NAO report. The per person costs are to provide a 5-year integration package. This includes accommodation, essential items such as food, medical services, education, language training and professional development. Rwanda will also support individuals with work opportunities and access to integration programmes.

Refugees: Rwanda

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, where refugees coming from Rwanda to the UK will be housed.

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the UK-Rwanda Migration and Economic Development Partnership, what care and support will be provided for refugees coming from Rwanda to the UK.

Michael Tomlinson: More details on the resettlement of refugees as part of the Migration and Economic Development Partnership will be set out in due course.

Asylum: Rwanda

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much will people whose claims have been rejected be offered to move to Rwanda voluntarily.

Michael Tomlinson: Individuals who have no right to remain in the UK legally are being offered voluntary relocation to Rwanda under a new agreement with the Government of Rwanda. This will relocate individuals who have no right to work, rent or remain in the UK to relocate to Rwanda and allow them to build safe and prosperous lives there.Individuals will receive £3,000 to support their relocation, paid to them on a card that can only be used in Rwanda.This builds on our already widely used voluntary returns scheme, which saw more than 19,000 people return to their country-of-origin last year. We can also now facilitate relocation to Rwanda, providing an alternative for those whose country of origin is unsafe or those who would prefer not to return, but have no right to remain in the UK.Under this Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Rwanda, individuals relocated voluntarily will have the same package of support for up to five years and access to integration programmes, so that they can study, undertake training, and work. Actual spend of the policy will be reported as part of the annual Home Office Reports and Accounts in the usual way.

Asylum: Rwanda

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, who will conduct initial asylum screenings under the UK-Rwanda Migration and Economic Development Partnership.

Michael Tomlinson: The screening process is designed to capture basic information about the individual, immigration history and their protection claim and is conducted by a range of officials under the Home Office.

Asylum: Electronic Tagging

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers were subject to electronic tagging as part of his Department's pilot programme between 15 June 2022 and 31 December 2023.

Michael Tomlinson: The information requested is not available from published statistics.However, as set out in the Pilot Equality Impact Assessment (available at Equality impact assessment: GPS electronic monitoring expansion pilot - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)), 600 individuals were to be subject to Electronic Monitoring as part of immigration bail conditions.

Animal Experiments

Christian Wakeford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Animals in Science Regulation Unit annual report 2022, published on 25 April 2024, if he will make it his policy to initiate an investigation into the reasons for the rise in non-compliance cases since 2021.

Tom Tugendhat: The Home Office takes non-compliance with the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 very seriously. The reasons for the increase in the number of non-compliance cases in 2022 include the introduction of a risk-based audit programme and the drive to improve governance within establishments, including self-reporting.The Animals in Science Regulation Unit will further evaluate trends in non-compliance as its regulatory reform programme develops. Every case is investigated, and remedies and sanctions applied, using more rigorous sanctions in cases where animal welfare is impacted or there are significant systems failures.

Undocumented Migrants: Electronic Tagging

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the enforcement notice issued by the Information Commissioner's Office on 21 March 2024 on the privacy risks posed by the electronic monitoring of people arriving in the UK by unauthorised means.

Michael Tomlinson: The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) findings related to the Electronic Monitoring Expansion Pilot which operated between 14 June 2022 and 14 December 2023. That pilot has now ended.

Detention Centres

Mr Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the capacity of the immigration detention estate was on (a) 8 May 2024, (b) 8 January 2024 and (c) 8 July 2023.

Michael Tomlinson: Immigration detention capacity figures are not static and are subject to operational demands. Management information shows that detention capacity on 8 July 2023 was c2158 immigration removal centre (IRC) beds, rising to c2219 IRC beds on 8 January 2024. As of 24 April 2024, there is a capacity to detain c2200 people in IRCs, including those liable for removal to Rwanda, with more coming online in the coming months.

Home Office: Training

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2023 to Question 6089 on Home Office: Training, whether participants in the e-learning training on FGM were asked to provide an approval rating for that course.

Laura Farris: Upon completion of the course, attendees are asked a series of questions to gather feedback on their experience of the course.This includes, how much their knowledge of FGM has improved and whether they recommend it to others.According to the most recently available data, 95% of those who have completed the FGM course have said they would now do something differently in their role as a result.

Agriculture: Seasonal Workers

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when he plans to announce whether he plans to extend the seasonal agricultural workers scheme beyond December 2024.

Tom Pursglove: The Government keeps the Seasonal Worker route under close review, and we will say more in due course.

Immigration: Detainees

Kate Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Rule 35(1) reports made by GPs working in Immigration Removal Centres setting out their concerns that continued detention of a person was likely to be injurious to their health were received by his Department from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2023; how many such persons were released from detention as a result of such a report; and in how many cases was detention continued because his Department believed that the vulnerabilities identified by the medical practitioner were outweighed by immigration control factors.

Michael Tomlinson: We regularly publish data on Rule 35(1) report from GPs in Immigration Removal Centres (IRCs).For the information from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2023. Information is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-enforcement-data-q4-2023.DT_03: Reports made by a medical practitioner to the Home Office under Rule 35 on individuals in immigration detention by level (1, 2 and 3).To maintain the highest standards of accuracy, the Home Office refers to published data, as this has been subject to rigorous quality assurance under National Statistics protocols prior to publication.We do not routinely publish information about whether continued detention could be harmful to a person’s health along with details on number of people released or where detention was continued for immigration control reasons.

Asylum

Mr Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many individuals that have been issued a notice of intent of inadmissibility have subsequently been admitted to the asylum system since 1 January 2022.

Michael Tomlinson: The Home Office does not routinely publish data on those who are admitted to the UK asylum system after a notice of intent has been issued.General data on inadmissibility is published as part of the quarterly immigration system statistics and can be found at How many people do we grant protection to? - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Deportation: Rwanda

Mr Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many individuals that have been detained for removal to Rwanda have also been served an (a) notice of inadmissibility and (b) inadmissibility decision.

Michael Tomlinson: The Home Office will not be providing a running commentary on ongoing operational activity. However, all individuals will have their cases considered in line with the published inadmissibility guidance:Inadmissibility – third country cases: caseworker guidance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Undocumented Migrants: France

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 7 May 2024 to Question 24423 on Undocumented Migrants: France, whether the payments made by his Department to the French authorities for their part in delivering the UK-France Joint Leader's Declaration are published as part of his Department's monthly transparency data on spending over £25,000.

Michael Tomlinson: The Home Office does not comment on the information requested due to the sensitivity of the agreement and the payments. The Home Office continues to work collaboratively with our French counterparts in relation to preventing illegal migration and therefore respects agreements made regarding transparency data.

Deportation: Rwanda

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the video entitled The first individuals set to be removed to Rwanda, posted on X by his Department on 1 May 2024, what the objectives of posting the video were; when the video received ministerial clearance; and if he will publish the minutes of the meeting in which the decision was made to produce the video.

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the video entitled The first individuals set to be removed to Rwanda, posted on X by his Department on 1 May 2024, who produced the video; and how much the video cost to produce.

Michael Tomlinson: Videos on government social media accounts should inform the public about government policy and delivery. This video showed Immigration Enforcement officers executing thier public duties as they do all the time. It was produced by civil servants as part of their routine duties and involved no additional costs. As with all videos featuring service users or sensitive content, every care was taken to protect subjects’ identities. The video went through normal approval processes for social media content.

Department for Education

Academies

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the role that academy trusts in improving (a) educational standards and (b) school facilities.

Damian Hinds: High quality academy trusts have been a key vehicle in improving educational standards. They have facilitated better collaboration, directed resources to where they are needed most, and enabled the best leaders to support a greater number of schools. As of 1 April, over 50% of all state-funded schools are academies. As of December 2023, 90% of schools were rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’, compared to 68% in 2010. There is also evidence that high quality trusts have improved underperforming schools via the sponsored academies programme. Departmental analysis has demonstrated that, on average, sponsored schools improve more quickly than equivalent local authority maintained schools. More than seven out of ten sponsored academies which were found to be underperforming as a local authority maintained school in their previous inspection now have a ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ rating. Academy trusts work with their school’s day to day to meet their responsibilities to keep buildings safe, well maintained and compliant with relevant regulations. The department supports them by providing significant capital funding, rebuilding programmes and support and guidance. The department has allocated £17 billion to improve the condition of the school estate since 2015, including £1.8 billion for the 2024/25 financial year. This is informed by consistent data on the condition of the school estate. In addition, the School Rebuilding Programme is transforming buildings at over 500 schools across England. The department also provides extensive guidance to help academy trusts and other responsible bodies to maintain their estates safely and effectively, such as through Good Estate Management for Schools. The department has also published a new estate management competency framework, which sets out the skills and knowledge needed in different roles to manage school estates. Where there are serious issues with buildings that cannot be managed independently by responsible bodies, the department provides additional advice and support on a case by case basis.

National Tutoring Programme: Finance

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of ending funding for the National Tutoring Programme on the attainment gap in 2024.

Damian Hinds: ​The department has invested over £1 billion in the National Tutoring Programme (NTP), which runs from the 2020/21 academic year to the 2023/24 academic year. The NTP is a time limited, four-year programme to support pupils to catch up following the Covid-19 pandemic.The department remains committed to the objective that tutoring should be embedded across schools in England, following the end of the NTP.Schools are best placed to decide how to spend their funding, depending on their unique circumstances and priorities, which may include spend on tutoring.Tutoring is included in the menu of approaches in the pupil premium guidance for school leaders.

Special Educational Needs

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 18 April to Question 20456 on Special Educational Needs: Stockport Metropolitan Borough Counci, what estimate her Department has made of the number of local authorities that are not delivering their education, health and care function as a result of constraints upon the general fund.

David Johnston: Responsibility for local authority funding lies with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).Local authorities have a statutory responsibility to assess whether children and young people have special educational needs that require an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan. EHC plans must be issued within twenty weeks of the needs assessment commencing so that children and young people can access the support they need.In 2022, 49.2% of EHC plans were issued within the twenty week time limit. Where local authorities are failing to deliver, the department works with them using a range of improvement programmes and special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) specialist advisers to address weaknesses. The department is also putting in place measures such as developing new national standards and a standardised EHC plan process to improve the SEND system so that, where an EHC plan is needed, they can be issued as quickly as possible to ensure children and young people can access the support they need.

Free School Meals

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to uprate the income threshold for eligibility for free school meals.

Damian Hinds: The department has extended free school meal (FSM) support several times and to more groups of children than any other government over the past half a century. As a result, the greatest ever proportion of children are now receiving free lunches. Over one third of children are now eligible for FSM, compared to one in six in 2010.However, a threshold must be set somewhere. The department believes that the current eligibility threshold level, which enables children in low-income households to benefit from FSM, while remaining affordable and deliverable for schools, is the correct decision. The department will continue to keep FSM eligibility under review to ensure that these meals are supporting those who most need them.

Mathematics: GCSE

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to allow people who are aged 18 and 19 and not in (a) education and (b) training to resit maths GSCE for free.

Damian Hinds: This government recognises the importance of numeracy skills for adults, both in work and everyday life. That is why the department is continuing to support participation in mathematics provision, including retaking GCSEs, for all 16 to 19 year olds and adults who need it.The department introduced the mathematics and English Condition of Funding in 2014 which ensures all 16 to 19 year olds continue to study English and mathematics to level 2 (GCSE grade 4+ or equivalent) as part of their study programme. The Adult Education Budget also supports all adults (19+) in England who do not yet hold a relevant qualification or have Level 2 skills the right to study for a qualification in mathematics for free. Under the Education Skills and Funding Agency funding rules, a learner will not be fully-funded to just resit an examination where no extra learning takes place.

Digital Technology: Older People

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help improve the digital skills of older people.

Luke Hall: The government recognises that digital skills are important for adults of all ages, and the department is committed to improving their level of digital skills to support active participation in society. From August 2020, the department introduced a digital entitlement for adults with no or low digital skills to undertake specified digital qualifications free of charge. The new entitlement mirrors the existing legal entitlements for English and mathematics. This puts essential digital skills on an equal footing in the adult education system, as the third essential skill adults need for work, life and further learning. The department introduced new Essential Digital Skills qualifications (EDSQs) at entry level and level 1 from August 2020, funded under the digital entitlement. EDSQs are based on the national standards for essential digital skills and are designed to meet the diverse needs of adults with no or low digital skills, reflecting different learning needs, motivations and starting points. To further enhance the essential digital skills offer for adults, from August 2023, the department introduced new digital Functional Skills qualifications (FSQs), which have replaced FSQs in Information and Communication Technology. Digital FSQs have standardised content and assessment, providing a benchmark of digital skills for employers. These are based on subject content for digital FSQs the department published in October 2021. The government recognises that formal qualifications are not necessary for everyone. That is why the department also fund community learning and other non-regulated learning, such as building confidence in essential digital skills, through the Adult Education Budget. Many local authorities and other further education providers are already delivering these courses that help equip adults with the essential digital skills they need for work, life and further learning. Of course, older people may also be looking to progress beyond essential digital skills, potentially through a desire to retrain or upskill. Through the department’s wider skills reforms, the department is continuing to ensure learners, whatever their age, can train, retrain and upskill towards better jobs, better wellbeing and better options for the future. More information about essential digital skills and other government funded training opportunities can be found here: https://www.skillsforcareers.education.gov.uk/pages/skills-for-life.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Rolls-Royce SMR: Government Assistance

Dave Doogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy's press release entitled UK backs new small nuclear technology with £210 million, published on 9 November 2021, what estimate she has made of the projected return on investment of the Government's support to Rolls-Royce SMR.

Andrew Bowie: Under the Low Cost Nuclear programme, the Government has given a grant of up to £210 million to Rolls-Royce SMR Ltd to support development of the Rolls Royce Small Modular Reactor (SMR) design, potentially capable of deployment in the UK in the early 2030s. The value for money of the Low Cost Nuclear programme was assessed against Green Book principles as part of normal approvals processes ahead of the grant award.

Rolls-Royce SMR: Government Assistance

Dave Doogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy's press release entitled UK backs new small nuclear technology with £210 million, published on 9 November 2021, what the cost to the public purse is of Government support to Rolls Royce SMR since 2021; and if she will make an estimate of the level of future funding they are forecast to receive by 2035.

Andrew Bowie: Under the Low Cost Nuclear programme, the Government has given a grant of up to £210 million to Rolls-Royce SMR Ltd to support development of the Rolls Royce Small Modular Reactor (SMR) design to complete the Generic Design Assessment Step Two. The Rolls Royce SMR is potentially capable of deployment in the UK in the early 2030s. Grant payments are disbursed in arrears subject to Rolls-Royce SMR providing supporting evidence to the grant administrator, UK Research and Innovation. There have been no commitments made for future funding after the Low Cost Nuclear programme. Separately, Rolls Royce SMR is one of six vendors in the Great British Nuclear SMR Technology Selection Process which have been invited to submit tenders for technology partner contracts. The total funding made available to successful bidders will be subject to tender evaluation and approval of the full business case.

Wind Power: Exports

Selaine Saxby: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she made an assessment of trends in the level of exports from the offshore wind sector since 2015 and; whether she has made an estimate of their total value.

Andrew Bowie: The Office for National Statistics publishes estimates of offshore wind exports in Low Carbon and Renewable Energy Economy estimates (LCREE). The table below shows data from 2015 to 2022. It indicates an estimated ten-fold increase over the period, averaging around £2.4 billion for 2021-2022. Offshore wind exports  (£ thousand) 20152016201720182019202020212022UK221,500237,500470,500492,0001,153,000790,5002,452,5002,393,000

Rolls-Royce SMR

Dave Doogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of Roll-Royce's decision not to open a pressure vessel manufacturing facility to support the delivery of small modular reactors.

Andrew Bowie: Nuclear vendors’ supply chain decisions are a matter for themselves to take. The Government has high ambitions for Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) - the Great British Nuclear-led SMR selection process is to be both robust and the fastest competition of its kind in the world, enabling operational SMRs by the mid-2030s. Alongside the range of other activities across the nuclear programme, this is a really exciting time for nuclear, which is creating significant supply chain opportunities.

Green Deal Scheme: Misrepresentation

Anne McLaughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the Answer from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero to the Question from the hon. Member for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine on 16 April 2024, Official Report, column 156, when that meeting will be facilitated.

Andrew Bowie: Officials in my office have been in contact the hon. Member to arrange a meeting to discuss the ongoing Green Deal complaints in her constituency.

Energy Price Guarantee

Selaine Saxby: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many households received support through the Energy Price Guarantee; and what the total amount of support received was by parliamentary constituency.

Amanda Solloway: The Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) was introduced in October 2022 to protect millions of households from the rising high cost of energy. Together, the EPG and Energy Bills Support Scheme covered around half of a typical household energy bill between October 2022 and June 2023, with a typical household saving £1,100 through the EPG. For more detail on the expenditure incurred by the EPG and other departmental energy schemes, I refer my hon. Friend to the Written Ministerial Statement made by my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State on 22 April, Official Report, HCWS421. The vast majority of households have benefitted from EPG support, paying less for their energy bills than they would have otherwise with no government intervention.Information on support levels broken down by parliamentary constituency is not held centrally and can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Energy Bills Discount Scheme

Selaine Saxby: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many businesses received support through the Energy Bills Discount Scheme; and what the total amount of support received was, by parliamentary constituency.

Amanda Solloway: As of 30 September 2023, the Energy Bills Discount Scheme (EBDS) had a cumulative expenditure of £114 million. For more detail on the expenditure incurred by the EBDS and other departmental energy schemes, I refer my hon. Friend to the Written Ministerial Statement made by my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State on 22 April, Official Report, HCWS421. The Secretary of State will provide an update to Parliament on the EBDS in due course. Information on the number of businesses receiving this support and levels of support broken down by parliamentary constituency is not held centrally, and can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Energy Bill Relief Scheme

Selaine Saxby: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many businesses received support through the Energy Bill Relief Scheme; and what the total amount of support received was, by parliamentary constituency.

Amanda Solloway: The Government’s intervention meant that many businesses saved around half on their wholesale energy costs during Winter 2022/23, with £7.52 billion being delivered through the Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS). For more detail on the expenditure incurred by the EBRS and other departmental energy schemes, I refer my hon. Friend to the Written Ministerial Statement made by my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State on 22 April, Official Report, HCWS421. Information on the number of businesses receiving this support and levels of support broken down by parliamentary constituency is not held centrally, and can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Carbon Budgets

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the High Court ruling of 3 May 2024 on the Government's carbon budget delivery plan, if her Department will take steps to tackle issues identified by the High Court in that ruling.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the impact of the High Court ruling of 3 May 2024 on the Government's carbon budget delivery plan on the UK's ability to meet its climate commitments under the Paris Agreement.

Justin Tomlinson: The Government is proud of its record on climate change. The Carbon Budget Delivery Plan remains Government policy and sets out over 300 policies and proposals the Government has in place to reach its carbon budget targets. The judgment contains no criticism of these detailed plans nor the policies themselves, which will keep the UK on track to meet our international commitments, including the 2030 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement, and Net Zero by 2050. Officials are considering the best approach to comply with the court order and Government will publish a new report within 12 months.

Treasury

Public Sector: Pay

Christian Wakeford: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps with Cabinet colleagues to increase public sector pay in line with inflation.

Laura Trott: Pay for most frontline workforces is set via independent Pay Review Bodies (PRBs). PRBs consider a range of evidence when forming their recommendations, including the need to recruit, retain and motivate suitably able and qualified people; the financial circumstances of government; the government’s policies for improving public services; and the inflation target.

Schools: Northern Ireland

Jim Shannon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will have discussions with the Secretary of State for Education on the potential merits of increasing funding through the Barnett formula to assist schools in Northern Ireland with the cost of heating and electricity.

Jim Shannon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of restructuring the Barnett Formula for education.

Laura Trott: In the 2024 Northern Ireland Executive restoration financial package worth over £3.3 billion, the UK Government has committed to implement a 24% needs-based factor into the Barnett formula for the Northern Ireland Executive from 2024-25 onwards. Funding provided to the Northern Ireland Executive through the Barnett formula is not ringfenced. This provides the Executive with the flexibility to allocate resources in devolved areas as they see fit and assign funding in response to their priorities. The UK Government has no plans to replace the Barnett Formula

Farmers: Loans

Dr Neil Hudson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to support agricultural businesses to access finance from banks.

Bim Afolami: The Government recognises the vital role of agricultural businesses across the UK, and it is important they can access the finance they need. The government’s Growth Guarantee Scheme supports smaller businesses, including agricultural businesses, to access the finance they need to invest and grow. The scheme extends the support previously offered under the Recovery Loan Scheme and provides a 70% government guarantee on lending to UK small and medium-sized enterprises. The scheme supports a wide range of products provided by different lenders such as loan terms, overdrafts, asset finance, invoice finance and asset-based lending. The government has also supported farmers to adapt to the agricultural transition by providing them with free business advice. Advisers offered one to one consultations, farm visits and free workshops that helped support farming businesses to improve their financial viability, which will have made it easier for them to access finance.

Banks: Urban Areas

Dr Neil Hudson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to help preserve access to banking on high streets.

Bim Afolami: It is important that all customers have appropriate access to banking and cash services and the Government is monitoring this situation closely. Guidance from the FCA expects firms to carefully consider the impact of planned branch closures on customers’ everyday banking and cash access needs, and put in place alternatives, where reasonable. Alternative options to access everyday banking services on the high street include via the Post Office or Banking Hubs. Banking Hubs are an industry initiative to enable customers of participating banks to access cash and banking services in shared facilities. UK Finance confirmed 225 Banking Hubs will be announced by the end of 2024. Furthermore, following my recent discussions with the UK high street banks, participating firms have also committed to improving Hubs by standardising the services available between firms, ensuring that customers do not require their own digital device to bank, trialling a ‘customer liaison service’ and trialling Saturday openings. The banks have agreed to keep services under review to ensure their effectiveness for all customers.

Mortgages: Misrepresentation

Helen Morgan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the efficiency and effectiveness of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme in its assessment of mortgage mis-selling complaints.

Bim Afolami: The Financial Services Compensation Scheme may be able to pay compensation to customers who have lost money as a result of bad mortgage advice or been mis-sold mortgage endowments. The FSCS can only pay compensation if the firm, broker, or advisor that the customer dealt with was regulated and has failed. Any complaints about live regulated firms should be addressed to the Financial Ombudsman Service. For mortgage claims, the FSCS carries out its compensation function within rules set by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), but is operationally independent of them. The FSCS publishes an annual report and levy class statements, including for the home finance intermediation levy class. The FSCS’s certified accounts and audit report are provided to HM Treasury each year, and copies are laid before Parliament.

Financial Services Compensation Scheme: Appeals

Helen Morgan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what proportion of appeals to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme have resulted in an over-turned decision.

Bim Afolami: The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) is the UK’s compensation scheme of last resort and pays compensation to consumers when authorised financial firms fail. If a claimant is unhappy with the FSCS’s decision on their claim, they can launch an appeal which will be reviewed by someone independent of the original decision. The FSCS operates a 2-stage internal appeal process. In the financial year 2022-2023, the FSCS made just under 97,000 claims decisions, and 1,695 customers asked the FSCS to review its decisions. The FSCS does not publish data on the proportion of appeals that are upheld or rejected at each stage. Customers who are unhappy at the end of the FSCS’s internal appeal process have the option of seeking a Judicial Review of the FSCS’s decision on their claim.

Insurance: Travellers

Caroline Nokes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has had recent discussions with the (a) insurance sector, (b) Financial Conduct Authority, (c) Financial Ombudsman and (d) Equality and Human Rights Commission on the ability of people in the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community to obtain (i) buildings and (ii) contents insurance.

Caroline Nokes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to help support people in the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community to obtain (a) buildings and (b) contents insurance.

Bim Afolami: Insurers make commercial decisions about the terms on which they will offer cover following an assessment of the relevant risks. However, the Government is determined that insurers treat customers fairly and insurers must comply with the relevant legislative and regulatory rules.The Financial Conduct Authority’s rules require insurers to treat their customers fairly and the FCA has robust powers to act against firms that do not comply. The UK Government is also committed to tackling discrimination and the Equality Act 2010 providers legal protections from discrimination due to protected characteristics. This means insurers cannot use ethnicity as a risk factor when determining the price of insurance.Customers who feel they have not been treated fairly by their insurer are able to complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service, the independent body established to provide arbitration in such cases.

Electric Vehicles: VAT

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of changes to vehicle tax for electric and low emissions vehicles from 1 April 2025 on the number of purchases of those vehicles.

Gareth Davies: From April 2025, electric and hybrid cars, vans and motorcycles will begin to pay VED in the same way as petrol and diesel vehicles. The anticipated impact is summarised in the Policy Costings document that was published alongside Autumn Statement 2022, and can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6375caf8e90e072848403c47/Autumn_Statement_2022_Policy_Costings_.pdf (p. 24).

Alcoholic Drinks and Tobacco: Smuggling

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an estimate of the total tax revenue lost due to the smuggling of (a) alcohol and (b) tobacco since 2010.

Nigel Huddleston: HMRC does not estimate the tax gap due to the smuggling of alcohol and tobacco.

Tobacco: Smuggling

Adam Holloway: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many referrals have been received by HMRC from trading standards since the commencement of the Tobacco Products (Traceability and Security Features) Regulations 2023; and how many penalties have been issued following such referrals.

Gareth Davies: In July 2023 new powers were given to Trading Standards to make referrals to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) where they find evidence of tobacco products that don’t comply with the UK Tobacco Track and Trace System. The referral process which practically implements these powers started in October 2023. HMRC periodically publishes outputs of its tobacco strategy, and will publish the outputs of its work with Trading Standards as part of future publications

Business: Insolvency

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 20 November 2023 to Question 1823 on Business: Insolvency, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle the trend in the number of companies declaring insolvency in that period.

Gareth Davies: The Government was pleased to see that the latest statistics reported by the Insolvency Service showed the number of corporate insolvencies in March 2024 had fallen by 28% compared to March 2023.The Government continues to help businesses, including through a swathe of policy measures in the Autumn explicitly aimed at ‘Backing British business’. Recent and current policies supporting businesses include:• Energy Bills Discount Scheme that provided discounts on high energy bills to eligible businesses and other non-domestic energy users from April 2023 to April 2024.• Continued frozen small business rates multiplier and business rates relief for the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure sector, the latter policy supporting around 230,000 properties up to £110,000 per business.• Payment and cashflow review outlining measures to combat late payments that can jeopardise stable cashflows.The Government will continue to monitor the UK corporate sector, using official data and engaging with firms and business groups to inform policy decisions.

Pensioners: Income Tax

Dame Angela Eagle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of freezing of income tax thresholds on pensioners.

Nigel Huddleston: The Government is committed to ensuring that older people are able to live with the dignity and respect they deserve. The Personal Allowance has nearly doubled since 2010 and is currently set at a level high enough to ensure that those pensioners whose sole income is the full rate of the new State Pension or basic State Pension do not pay any income tax.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Import Controls

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Border Target Operating Model, whether he has issued guidance to border control staff on the acceptable level of errors in a customs declaration for goods coming in to the UK.

Sir Mark Spencer: Defra has worked closely with local authorities and port health authorities to develop an implementation plan for the BTOM. Guidance on new processes and how to approach enforcement has been provided to these competent authorities.

Import Controls: Private Sector

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the impact of current operating hours of privately-run Border Control Posts on just-in-time supply chains.

Sir Mark Spencer: BCPs are designed to handle high volumes of imported SPS goods and offer extended opening hours with staff working shifts on site to carry out reliable checks which minimise friction on traffic flow. The Government has worked with port and airport operators, traders, Port Health Authorities and APHA to make sure we have the right infrastructure, systems and resources in place.

Import Controls: Fees and Charges

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the basis on which the Common User Charge is levied will be set out in (a) regulations or (b) guidance.

Sir Mark Spencer: The Common User Charge will recover the full costs of operating the government-run BCP facilities in Sevington Kent, serving the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel in line with legislation: Article 79 to 85 of the retained Official Controls Regulations 2017; and in guidance as set out on GOV.UK at: Common user charge: rates and eligibility - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Export Health Certificates: Languages

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance his Department issues on the language in which vets in EU nations must complete health certificates for goods imported into the UK under the Border Target Operating Model.

Sir Mark Spencer: It is for EU member states to translate our model health certificates into their own languages for use by their relevant competent authority staff including official veterinarians and plant health inspectors. This is a requirement of Official Control Regulations (article 89) and will be understood by the certifying official veterinarian completing the certificate.

Inland Border Facilities: Ashford

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of checks that will be carried out on medium risk goods under the Border Target Operating Model at Sevington in May 2024.

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an estimate of the number of physical checks that will take place under the Border Target Operating Model on consignments containing only medium- and low-risk goods entering the UK through the short straits in the week commencing 6 May 2024; and what estimate he has made of the proportion of all such eligible consignments this would represent.

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an estimate of the number of physical checks that will take place under the Border Target Operating Model on consignments containing only high-risk goods entering the UK through the short straits in the week commencing 6 May 2024; and what estimate he has made of the proportion of all such eligible consignments this would represent.

Sir Mark Spencer: Estimates of the operational capacity of Sevington have been based on a throughput model that seeks to model the flow of goods into the site based on the volumes, seasonal trends, timetabling of ferries and operational assumptions around the number of bays in use, and the duration of inspections including marshalling time and cleaning. Our checks are intelligence-led and based on biosecurity risk. It would be inappropriate for us to set out operational details like the exact inspection details from 30 April. Traders should continue to follow the published guidance which sets out BTOM inspection rates. DEFRA will gradually increase changes in controlled stages to balance biosecurity risk and maintain trade flows whilst minimising disruption at the border. This will allow the level of goods inspected at the border to be operationally manageable over the introductory stages.

Food: Labelling

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reason the public consultation on fairer food labelling which closes on 7 May 2024 does not include labelling the method of slaughter used in respect of meat products.

Sir Mark Spencer: The Government encourages the highest standards of animal welfare at slaughter, and legislation sets out the main requirements to protect the welfare of animals when being slaughtered. The Government expects the industry, whether food producer or food outlet, to provide consumers with all the information they need to make informed choices. Where any information is provided on the method of slaughter it must be accurate and not misleading to the consumer. We are currently consulting on proposals to improve and extend current mandatory method of production labelling, including options for the production standards behind them. Our proposed standards initially focus on the period of time the animal spends on farm. We are seeking views through consultation on these standards, including the period of life which they should cover.

Import Controls: Fees and Charges

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his planned timetable is for issuing invoices for the Common User Charge for shipments entering the UK on 1 May 2024.

Sir Mark Spencer: The first invoices will be issued no sooner than 12 weeks after 30 April 2024 to give business time to prepare for paying the common user charge. The first invoices will cover the period 30 April to 31 July inclusive, thereafter, invoices will be issued monthly.

Dangerous Dogs

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the deadline for neutering dogs whose owners wish to withdraw a certificate of exemption.

Sir Mark Spencer: For a Certificate of Exemption to remain valid, owners must arrange to have their XL Bully dog neutered and to provide evidence of this to Defra by set deadlines. These deadlines are 30 June 2024 if the dog was 12 months or older on 31 January 2024, 31 December 2024 if the dog was at least 7 months old, but less than 12 months old on 31 January 2024, and 30 June 2025 if the dog was younger than 7 months on 31 January 2024. Owners who no longer think that their dog is an XL Bully will be able to ask Defra to withdraw their certificate of exemption. Defra will provide more information about how to do this soon.

Sustainable Farming Incentive

Sir Robert Goodwill: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what data her Department holds on the proportion of land covered in applications to the Sustainable Farming Incentive in the last 12 months which is focused on uses other than food production.

Sir Mark Spencer: In the last 12 months, data shows that the proportion of land covered in applications to Sustainable Farming Incentive which is focused on uses other than food production is 3.4%. This is regardless of the status of the application.

Freight: Costs

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he is taking steps to mitigate the potential impact of increases in import costs at Dover on the efficiency of haulage operations.

Sir Mark Spencer: The new import health control regime aims to achieve the lowest regulatory obligation for businesses, consistent with the need to protect biosecurity and public health and to safeguard the UK’s reputation for high regulatory standards. The additional costs for businesses associated with the BTOM are substantially less than they would have been if we had extended the inherited EU 3rd country model, currently applied to non-EU goods, to all imports.

Tree Planting

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many hectares of trees have been planted in each year since 2015.

Rebecca Pow: I would refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Chesterfield on 2 April 2024 to Question 19841.

Game: Gun Sports

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he is taking steps to increase the transparency of the process for licensing game bird shoots.

Rebecca Pow: Defra has introduced several improvements to the transparency of processes since 2023 including proactively publishing all regulatory documents relating to GL43 and GL45 on Gov.uk, and by sharing the number of individual licenses approved and rejected in a previous PQ (PQ 202935). Defra has regularly engaged with a broad range of stakeholders to develop an improved risk assessment process, as well as a general licence for Special Protection Areas for birds. Defra has kept stakeholders informed of progress throughout the development of the general licence and individual licensing process.

Water: Pollution and Sewage

Jamie Stone: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support sports clubs engaged in (a) swimming, (b) surfing, (c) angling, (d) canoeing and (e) other water sports who have impacted by water pollution and sewage discharges.

Robbie Moore: The Government is committed to improving the quality of our coastal and inland waters for the benefit of the environment and everyone who uses it. The Environment Agency takes over 7,000 samples each year at England’s 424 designated bathing waters, which are used to determine the annual bathing water classifications. These classifications are displayed on signage at bathing waters and online on the Environment Agency’s Swimfo website, to allow bathers to make informed decisions before entering the water. Defra welcomes applications for bathing water designations in England for both coastal waters and inland waters such as lakes and rivers. Anyone, including swimming clubs, can apply to designate a site as a bathing water by following the application guidance available at: Designate a bathing water: guidance on how to apply - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) The Government is clear that the amount of sewage discharged into our waters is unacceptable. We have taken a series of actions to require water companies to improve how they manage wastewater.  For example, we have set ambitious targets through the Storm Overflow Discharge Reduction Plan to reduce the use of storm overflows. This will drive the largest infrastructure programme in water company history: estimated at £60 billion capital investment in 25 years. To support these targets in the near term, water companies have committed to £180m of new funding over the next year to help tackle sewage spills. This is a new investment committed by water companies to deliver enhanced maintenance programmes to improve the sewer network and is expected to prevent more than 8,000 sewage spills polluting English waterways. These measures will benefit swimming, surfing, angling, canoeing and all other water sports.

Tree Planting

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he is taking steps to use the Government's tree planting programme to tackle (a) flooding and (b) upper catchment management of rivers.

Rebecca Pow: Tree planting can help us meet a wide range of strategic objectives, including the 25 Year Environment Plan’s commitment to limit damage to rivers and the pledge to reduce flooding through natural flood management solutions. The England Woodland Creation Offer recognises the benefits of planting riparian buffers through specific Additional Contributions. These contributions support riparian tree planting, flood management and improved water quality. The Government is also supporting woodland creation along rivers through the ‘Woodlands for Water’ project. This pilot project works with the Riverscapes Partnership to facilitate the creation of riparian woodland corridors in six river catchment areas. This year we are introducing an action into the Sustainable Farming Incentive for the management of habitat strips next to watercourses. This will support the planting of trees and scrub for biodiversity, flooding and water quality benefits.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Gaza: Humanitarian Aid

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what diplomatic representations he has made to Israel on allowing 500 aid trucks a day to enter Gaza.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The Government maintains a regular and intensive dialogue with Israeli counterparts on issues relating to all aspects of the conflict, including Israel's commitments to increase aid into Gaza. The Prime Minister last spoke with Prime Minister Netanyahu on the 30 April, whilst the Foreign Secretary travelled to the region 17 April, where he met with President Herzog, Prime Minister Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Katz.The Government has been clear that, whilst we have seen an increase in the number of aid trucks getting into Gaza, more needs to be done. We need to see progress on the UN's minimal operating requirements, including more visas and driver approvals granted, as well as more trucks permitted to cross into Gaza.

Aviation: Iran Air

Sarah Green: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he has discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of banning flights by Iran Air to the UK.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: Alongside Whitehall partners we continue to explore measures to deter Iran from their hostile and destabilising activity. However, we do not publicly speculate on future restrictive measures.We have however sanctioned more than 400 Iranian individuals and entities, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in its entirety - for roles in weapons proliferation, regional conflicts, human rights violations, and threats to UK based individuals. We have also introduced new UK trade restrictions on the supply of drone components as part of our wider Iran sanctions regime introduced in December 2023.

Hong Kong: Human Rights

Holly Lynch: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether the Minister of State for the Indo-Pacific raised human rights concerns relating to the 2024 Safeguarding National Security Bill and the 2020 National Security Law while meeting the (a) Hong Kong Secretary for Financial Services and (b) Treasury Christopher Hui in Hong Kong.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: On 24 April I met with Hong Kong Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Christopher Hui during my six-day visit to China and Hong Kong. I raised concerns over the deterioration of rights and freedoms in the city precipitated by the 2020 National Security Law and the recent passage of legislation under Article 23. We will continue to raise areas of disagreement or concern, including human rights in Hong Kong with the Hong Kong and Chinese authorities.

Hong Kong: Freedom of Expression

Holly Lynch: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, if the Minister of State for the Indo-Pacific will declare the 2024 Safeguarding National Security Bill in Hong Kong to be a breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration following its first application in the case of Ma Chun-man in March 2024.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: Following a series of breaches of the Sino-British Joint Declaration by China, including the imposition of the 2020 National Security Law (NSL) under which Ma Chun Man was originally prosecuted, the then Foreign Secretary declared China to be in continuous breach of the Joint Declaration. That view has not changed. The Foreign Secretary called for the NSL to be repealed and an end to the prosecution of all individuals charged under it on 17 December. The new Safeguarding National Security Ordinance was enacted by the Hong Kong government under Article 23 of Hong Kong's Basic Law. As The Foreign Secretary said on 19 March, its overall impact will be to further damage the rights and freedoms enjoyed in the city. It undermines Hong Kong's implementation of binding international obligations including the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. We are monitoring its implementation closely, including its swift application in this case.

China: Coronavirus

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, if he will make an assessment of the (a) adequacy of the transparency of the Chinese government on their handling of the covid-19 outbreak and (b) implications for his policies of the protest by Zhang Yongzhen.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: We are aware of the protest made by Zhang Yongzhen. Clearly there are questions that still need to be answered about the origin and spread of COVID-19, not least so we can ensure we are better prepared for future pandemics. We are not going to rule anything out until a robust, transparent and science-led review has taken place. The UK continues to support the World Health Organisation (WHO) in its expert study of the origins of Covid-19. It is important that China and other countries cooperate fully with the researchers.

Gaza: Food Supply

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of access to food in Gaza.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: We continue to have grave concerns around humanitarian access in Gaza. Palestinians are facing a devastating and growing humanitarian crisis and there is an urgent need to get more aid to the people of Gaza to prevent a famine.We have seen an encouraging increase in the number of aid trucks getting into Gaza and some World Food Programme aid has now moved from Ashdod Port into Gaza, but more needs to be done. We must see further action to ensure more aid actually gets over the border. We need progress on the UN's minimal operating requirements, including more visas and driver approvals granted, as well as more trucks permitted to cross into Gaza.Aid will also not make a difference unless it can be properly and safely distributed. Guaranteed deconfliction for aid convoys and aid workers, and for other humanitarian work is essential.The UK is playing a leadership role in alleviating that suffering. We trebled our aid commitment in the last financial year, and we are doing everything we can to get more aid in as quickly as possible by land, sea and air.

Gaza: Armed Conflict

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, if he will have discussions with the UN on establishing responsibility for the (a) bombing of the al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza in October 2023 and (b) recent deaths of four Israel Defence Forces soldiers at Kerem Shalom border crossing.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: As the Prime Minister said on 23 October, the Government's judgement is that the explosion at Al-Ahli Hospital on 17 October was likely caused by a missile, or part of one, that was launched from within Gaza towards Israel. Hamas has claimed responsibility for the strike on 05 May which killed four Israel Defence Force soldiers at Kerem Shalom.Our priority is doing all we can to reach a long-term solution to this crisis. This means the removal of Hamas' capacity to launch attacks against Israel, Hamas no-longer being in charge of Gaza, the release of all hostages, a new Palestinian Government for the West Bank and Gaza, and a political horizon to a two-state solution.

UNRWA: Finance

Jim Shannon: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the decision to suspend funding to UNRWA on religious minorities.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: Allegations that UNRWA staff were involved in the events that took place on 7 October in Israel are appalling, which is why we took decisive action to pause future funding to the organisation.The Prime Minister has been clear that the UK will set out its position on future funding to UNRWA following careful consideration of Catherine Colonna's final report, UNRWA's response and the ongoing UN Office for Internal Oversight Services investigation into these allegations.We trebled our aid commitment in the last financial year and are doing everything we can to get more aid in as quickly as possible by land, sea and air, working with multiple implementing partners.

Gaza: Israel

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the planned march into Gaza by Israeli settlers on 15 May 2024.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what discussions he has had with his Israeli counterparts on the planned march in Gaza by Israeli settlers on 15 May 2024; and if he will take diplomatic steps to help prevent the resettlement of Israeli settlers in Gaza.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK policy on settlement expansion is clear: settlements are illegal under international law and only make it harder to progress to achieving peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians. We have called on the Israeli Government to halt seizures of Palestinian lands immediately.On 3 May, the Foreign Secretary announced new sanctions on extremist groups and individuals for inciting and perpetrating settler violence in the West Bank. The measures impose financial restrictions on the entities and individuals, and travel restrictions on the individuals. The UK will not hesitate to take further action if needed, including through further sanctions.The Foreign Secretary has made our position clear to his Israeli counterparts, most recently during his visit to the region on 17 April.

Gaza: Ceasefires

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what recent steps his Department has taken to help ensure all parties comply with resolution 2728 (2024) adopted by the UN Security Council on 25 March 2024.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The passing of UN Security Council Resolution 2728 reflected international consensus behind the UK's position that we need an immediate pause in the fighting to get aid into Gaza, to secure the release of hostages and make progress towards a permanent, sustainable ceasefire. The Prime Minister made this point during his call with Prime Minister Netanyahu on 30 April. The Foreign Secretary raised this with counterparts and partners during his visit to Israel and the OPTs in April.We continue to use public and private diplomatic channels as well as multilateral fora to underline this.

Toomaj Salehi

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, if he will summon the Chargé d’Affaires of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran and call for (a) the revocation of Toomaj Salehi’s death sentence, (b) his unconditional release, and (c) a nationwide moratorium on executions.

David Rutley: The UK condemns the death sentence of prominent and fearless artist Toomaj Salehi. Iran's deliberate attempts to silence dissenting voices are clear for all to see. We call for Mr Salehi's immediate release, and the release of all those who are unjustly detained by the Iranian regime. Mr Salehi's sentence is yet more evidence of unacceptable restrictions on freedom of expression in Iran. Nine people associated with the "Woman Life Freedom" protests have been executed.The UK opposes the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle. We condemn Iran's continued imposition of the death penalty on protesters and have sanctioned 94 Iranian individuals or entities for human rights violations since September 2022. We call on Iran to establish a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty.

Alaa Abdel Fattah

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what recent discussions Ministers in his Department have had with their Egyptian counterparts on Alaa Abd El-Fattah.

David Rutley: Ministers and officials continue to raise Mr Alaa Abd El-Fattah's case at the highest levels with the Egyptian government. They have been consistently clear in calling for his release and continue to press for urgent consular access.The Foreign Secretary raised this case with Egyptian Foreign Minister Shoukry on 29 April 2024 and previously on 22 February 2024. The Minister of State for the Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon raised this case with Foreign Minister Shoukry on 28 March 2024 and with the Egyptian Ambassador on 20 February 2024. The Prime Minister also spoke to President Sisi about Mr El-Fattah on 1 December 2023.

Toomaj Salehi

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he has had discussions with his Iranian counterpart on Toomaj Salehi’s death sentence.

David Rutley: The UK condemns the death sentence of prominent and fearless artist Toomaj Salehi. Iran's deliberate attempts to silence dissenting voices are clear for all to see. We call for Mr Salehi's immediate release, and the release of all those who are unjustly detained by the Iranian regime. Mr Salehi's sentence is yet more evidence of unacceptable restrictions on freedom of expression in Iran. Nine people associated with the "Woman Life Freedom" protests have been executed.The UK opposes the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle. We condemn Iran's continued imposition of the death penalty on protesters and have sanctioned 94 Iranian individuals or entities for human rights violations since September 2022. We call on Iran to establish a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty.

Development Aid: Climate Change

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, with reference to paragraph 4.11 of the Independent Commission for Aid Impact’s report entitled UK aid’s international climate finance commitments, published on 29 February 2024, for what reason his Department has categorised 30 per cent of the funding for the Afghanistan Multi-Year Programme Phase 2 project as international climate finance.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: To recognise the work that is being undertaken to support resilience building in the most climate-vulnerable countries a fixed proportion of 30 per cent International Climate Finance will be applied to humanitarian work being carried out in countries that fall into the bottom 10 per cent in terms of recognised climate vulnerability rankings, including Afghanistan.

Development Aid: Climate Change

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, with reference to the Independent Commission for Aid Impact’s UK review of UK aid’s international climate finance commitments, published 29 February 2024, what assessment his Department has made of whether the £1.724 billion funding which has been reclassified as international climate finance is (a) dedicated ring-fenced funding and (b) distinguishable from non-climate ODA.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK is delivering on our commitment to spend £11.6 billion International Climate Finance (ICF) between 2021/22 and 2025/26. Much of our ICF is integrated into programmes that seek to tackle climate change alongside other development objectives such as supporting economic growth and boosting sustainable agriculture. UK ICF programmes are all identifiable through a dedicated tag on the Development Tracker website: [https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/].

Gaza: Israel

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he supports the Israeli government exercising military operations in Rafah.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he has had discussions with his Israeli counterpart on the criteria under which they would cease preparations for a military operation in Rafah.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: We are clear that we would not support a major operation in Rafah unless there is a very clear plan for how to protect people and save lives. We have not seen that plan so, in these circumstances, we would not support a major operation in Rafah.The fastest way to end the conflict is to secure a deal which gets the hostages out and allows for a pause in the fighting in Gaza. We must then work with our international partners to turn that pause into a sustainable, permanent ceasefire.

Kenya: Humanitarian Aid

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, if he will take steps with his international counterparts to support the Kenyan government in managing evacuations near dams and reservoirs due to ongoing flood risks.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: Following recent periods of intense rainfall a nationwide assessment of all dams has been conducted with nearly 200 identified as high risk. Government-led search and rescue operations are ongoing with the police, public health officers and others assisting across all emergency locations. In response to the flooding the UK has provided £850,000 to UNICEF to support the provision of cash transfers to nearly 7,000 households in the worst affected counties. UK funding will also deliver urgently needed health, nutrition and sanitation services. We remain in close contact with our Kenyan and international partners on the continuing response.

East Africa: Food Supply

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he has had recent discussions with his (a) international partners and (b) non-governmental organisations on potential food shortages in East Africa; and if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of these potential food shortages.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: I regularly discuss food security in East Africa with the UK's international partners. Tens of millions of people face 'crisis' levels of food insecurity with needs in Ethiopia and Sudan particularly grave. The UK is leading efforts to address this issue. On 16 April I co-hosted a humanitarian pledging event for Ethiopia and announced a UK package lifesaving assistance budgeted at £100 million. The UK will also deliver £89 million of aid to Sudan in 2024/25, up from nearly £50 million in 2023/24. Throughout East Africa UK aid is saving lives and making a difference.

Disease Control: Air Pollution

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, if he will take steps to ensure measurable commitments to improve indoor air quality are included in the forthcoming Pandemic Accord.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK recognises that improving indoor air quality is an important public health issue. However, as the Pandemic Accord aims to establish a high-level framework for pandemic prevention, preparedness and response, we have instead pursued action on this issue in other multilateral settings. For example, at last year's UN General Assembly, the UK worked with international partners to advocate for action on indoor air quality during the High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Care. The UK supported reference being made to the health impacts of indoor air pollution in the HLM's political declaration, which was subsequently adopted on 5 October 2023.

Sudan: Famine

Ian Paisley: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what assessment he has made of (a) trends in the level of food shortage and (b) the likelihood of famine in Sudan; and what steps his Department plans to take to support Sudan with famine relief.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: Almost 17.7 million people in Sudan (37 percent of the population) are thought to be experiencing acute food insecurity. This is likely to worsen in the coming months. On 15 March, UN OCHA released a White Note formally warning of the risk of conflict-induced famine. The number of people in emergency (IPC 4) levels of hunger is now expected to increase across Greater Darfur, Greater Kordofan, and in some areas of eastern Sudan; and some households are expected to face famine (IPC 5) in parts of West Darfur, Khartoum, and among displaced populations in Greater Darfur. In 2024/2025, UK ODA to Sudan will nearly double to £89 million, including funding to UNICEF, which will provide emergency and life-saving food assistance to support people particularly in hard-to reach areas in Sudan, including nutrition, water and hygiene services for 500,000 children under 5. The UK will also be working with the World Food Programme to assist in the provision of assorted food commodities to people in Sudan. The UK continues to push for improved humanitarian access into and within Sudan to assist people who are hungry.

Sudan: Famine

Ian Paisley: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what discussions his Department has had with non-governmental organisations on famine relief in Sudan; and with which non-governmental organisations his Department works in that country.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: We frequently engage with a range of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working on the humanitarian and food insecurity crisis response in Sudan including international non-governmental organisations (INGO) Country Directors and representatives, and with the Sudan INGO and national non-governmental organisations (NNGO) Forum leads, to ensure that our programming and policy is well informed by INGO and NNGO perspectives. The UK last year provided £23.5 million to the UN-led Sudan Humanitarian Fund (SHF) to provide flexible, multi-sector support and which predominantly provides funding to NGOs; we will continue our support to the SHF this year too. We will provide £89 million to support Sudan over the year ahead, most of which will go towards humanitarian assistance. Exact budgets are in the process of being allocated. UK support will continue to be delivered through the UN and other trusted partners including some NGOs such as the Danish Refugee Council, Norwegian Refugee Council and Save the Children.

Cameroon: Violence

Alex Norris: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he has made an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of reports that (a) the Cameroon Armed Forces and (b) separatist groups are committing violence against civilians in that country.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK government has been tracking developments in the North West and South West regions of Cameroon since the outbreak of the Anglophone crisis in 2016. We are aware that violence is being committed against civilians by both sides of the conflict, and I raised our human rights concerns with senior government officials during my visit to the country in April 2023. I also set out the UK's commitment to supporting a peaceful resolution through inclusive dialogue, as well as advocating for humanitarian access, development outcomes for those impacted by the conflict, and the investigation of reports of human rights abuses. Our High Commission in Cameroon is carrying these policies forward.

Cameroon: Violence

Alex Norris: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether his Department is taking steps to support UK nationals with relatives in Cameroon who are affected by violence and persecution in that country.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The FCDO provides consular assistance to British nationals. British nationals in Cameroon can sign up to alerts for our Cameroon Travel Advice at GOV.uk and call us on +44 20 7008 5000 for consular assistance. If someone is in the UK and worried about a British national in Cameroon, they can call us on 020 7008 5000.

Cameroon: Violence

Alex Norris: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether his Department is taking steps to support asylum seekers fleeing violence in south Cameroon.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The FCDO is supporting civilians who are fleeing violence in the North West and South West regions of Cameroon by providing funding for humanitarian assistance. From 2022 to 2024, the UK government has provided the International Committee of the Red Cross with £2 million for food supplies, sanitation, healthcare, and social protection. We continue to encourage an inclusive dialogue on the conflict which will lead to a sustainable and enduring peace settlement.

Ministry of Defence: Cybersecurity

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what steps his Department plans to take to investigate the recent MoD security breach.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The recent MoD security breach with the compromise of MoD payroll information is the work of malign cyber actors who compromised a contractor-run network entirely separate from the MoD core system. A specialist security review of the contractor and its operations is under way by the MoD. We cannot rule out a state or criminal actor at this stage. Investigations are ongoing and appropriate steps will be taken.We consider every case on its merits and will not always name who was responsible for a specific incident. Should the UK Government choose to respond publicly, it will do so at a time of our choosing when we judge it is in the best interests of the UK to do so.

Department for Business and Trade

Fertilisers: Russia

Alicia Kearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether the UK has imported fertiliser from Russia since its invasion of Ukraine.

Alan Mak: In March 2022, the UK introduced additional duties of 35% on Russian fertilisers, excluding urea which is subject to a tariff of 6%. In July 2022, the UK also introduced bans on certain kinds of fertiliser.HMRC data shows that UK imports of fertiliser from Russia in 2023 were down 80% compared to 2022 import values, demonstrating the impact of sanctions and additional tariffs.We will continue to apply pressure, and coordinate with our international partners to do so, until Ukraine prevails or Putin ends his war of choice.

Iron and Steel: Production

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will take steps to increase domestic steel production to levels that would make the UK self-sufficient.

Alan Mak: The Government recognises the importance of steelmaking in the UK. However, there are many types of steel products needed by consumers, and it is not always economically viable for any nation to be wholly self-sufficient. This means that the UK imports certain types of steel and also exports certain steel product to other countries.We have taken action to enable a competitive landscape and level playing field, including reducing energy costs through the British Industry Supercharger, access to energy efficiency and decarbonisation funding, and remedies against unfair trading practices, while balancing the need to remain a fair and open market.

Arms Trade: Israel

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies on arms exports to Israel of protests by university students.

Alan Mak: The UK has one of the most robust and transparent export licensing systems in the world, enshrined in law through the Export Control Act and implemented through our Strategic Export Licensing Criteria.This informs our approach to export licensing – both for our extant licences and for new licence applications for exports to Israel. All decisions are assessed on a case-by-case basis against our licensing criteria.

Export Credit Guarantees

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 19 February 2024 to Question 13544 on Export Credit Guarantees, whether (a) her Department or (b) UK Export Finance has unilaterally proposed a 100% guarantee in advance of negotiations with a company.

Greg Hands: UK Export Finance has not unilaterally proposed a 100% guarantee in considering requests by applicants for its support.

NHS: Procurement

Gordon Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of companies being unable to comply with the NHS England requirement for all suppliers to commit globally by 2027 to achieve net zero by 2045 on the level of business investment in the UK.

Kevin Hollinrake: NHS England has published the net zero supplier roadmap, detailing steps for suppliers to align with NHS net zero goals. The roadmap offers extra support for SMEs (Small & Medium Enterprises) and VCSEs (Voluntary, Community & Social Enterprises) facing compliance challenges. My Department (DBT) has collaborated with industry and NHS partners to publish materials on the UK’s approach to achieving net zero healthcare which we have been showcasing internationally. We also work to champion net zero suppliers overseas.

Three: Vodafone Group

Christian Wakeford: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority into the proposed merger between Vodafone and Three Mobile.

Kevin Hollinrake: Merger investigations undertaken by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) are independent of Government. The CMA is directly accountable to Parliament.

Three: Vodafone Group

Christian Wakeford: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the links between the Li family and the Chinese state on the proposed merger of Three Mobile with Vodafone.

Alan Mak: The Government has the power to review mergers and acquisitions through the National Security and Investment Act to ensure the most sensitive sectors of our economy are protected. It would be inappropriate to comment on private individuals. The Secretary of State in the Cabinet Office has issued a Final Order in respect of the proposed Vodafone Three merger, allowing the transaction to proceed subject to the introduction of proportionate measures to address national security concerns.

Motor Vehicles: Manufacturing Industries

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what data her Department holds on the number of people in (a) the West Midlands, (b) Coventry and (c) Coventry North East constituency who have been employed in the automotive industry in each of the last three years.

Alan Mak: According to the ONS Business Registers and Employment Survey (BRES) the estimated numbers employed in automotive manufacturing in the West Midlands, Coventry and Coventry North-East were as follows (latest published year 2022):  202020212022West Midlands54,00057,00046,000Coventry7,0007,0006,000Coventry North-East1,7502,0001,500

Department for Transport

Taxis: Safety

Dame Andrea Jenkyns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to help ensure passenger safety in the private hire sector.

Dame Andrea Jenkyns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make a comparative assessment of the adequacy of regulation of (a) Uber and (b) other private hire operators.

Guy Opperman: It is the responsibility of local authorities to determine the requirements that must be met by all PHV operators, including Uber, although the Government issues guidance to assist them in carrying out this function.The Government intends to legislate to enable the setting of national standards for taxi and PHV licensing, enhance licensing authority enforcement powers and establish a national licensing database when parliamentary time allows.

Euston Station: Housing

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the amount of private finance required to deliver the HS2 Euston quarter development; and how much private finance has been secured for the project as of 8 May 2024.

Huw Merriman: The Government remains committed to delivering a privately financed HS2 Euston station as part of a transformed ‘Euston Quarter’ outlined in the Network North paper. The Department continues to define and develop a range of development models and financing mechanisms to best meet the objectives of the ‘Euston Quarter’, ensuring that funding is underpinned by contributions from those people and businesses this development supports. This includes consideration of options for using alternative funding to cover the section of HS2 from Old Oak Common to Euston. Euston sits in an internationally significant commercial district close to a world-leading cluster of scientific, research and development institutions, providing a significant opportunity to leverage private sector investment and minimise up front cost to the taxpayer. Government is continuing to engage with a range of stakeholders and delivery partners and there is already extensive support and interest from the private sector.

High Speed 2 Line: Euston Station

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate he has made of the total cost to the public purse of the HS2 Euston development, including core civil engineering and tunnelling.

Huw Merriman: The Government remains committed to delivering a privately financed HS2 Euston station as part of a transformed ‘Euston Quarter’ outlined in the Network North paper. The Department continues to define and develop a range of development models and financing mechanisms to best meet the objectives of the ‘Euston Quarter’, ensuring that funding is underpinned by contributions from those people and businesses this development supports. This includes consideration of options for using alternative funding to cover the section of HS2 from Old Oak Common to Euston. In the interim, certain activities and works to enable and realise the new Euston Quarter are being progressed with the support of some public funding, but with the intention of that funding being recouped later from private sources.

High Speed 2 Line: Euston Station

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with Ministerial colleagues in HM Treasury on funding for (a) delivering HS2 to Euston and (b) the re-scoped Euston station development.

Huw Merriman: There are regular conversations between DfT Ministers and HMT Ministers on arrange of issues, including HS2 and Euston. Further to this, Government has established a Ministerial Task Force to oversee the next stages of delivery at Euston, set strategic direction and facilitate decision making. Membership of the Task Force includes Ministers from the Department for Transport, HM Treasury and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

South Fylde Line

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of Northern Rail's performance on the South Fylde Line.

Huw Merriman: I recognise the importance of a reliable train service for the people and businesses of Blackpool. The department closely monitors the performance of Northern Trains and other operators and holds them to account for any performance issues under their control.

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency: Compensation

Holly Lynch: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost to the public purse was of consolatory payments issued by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency in the last 12 months.

Guy Opperman: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency publishes the cost of consolatory payments it makes as part of its Annual Report and Accounts. In the last published report for 2022-23 the information can be found under ex-gratia payments on page 66 using the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dvla-annual-report-and-accounts-2022-to-2023.

High Speed 2 Line: Euston Station

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what financing mechanisms he plans to use to help deliver the HS2 station at London Euston.

Huw Merriman: The Government remains committed to delivering a privately financed HS2 Euston station as part of a transformed ‘Euston Quarter’ outlined in the Network North paper. The Department continues to define and develop a range of development models and financing mechanisms to best meet the objectives of the ‘Euston Quarter’. This includes consideration of options for using alternative funding to cover the section of HS2 from Old Oak Common to Euston, underpinned by contributions from those people and businesses this development supports. This would deliver value for money for the taxpayer and could create as many as 10,000 new homes and opportunities for businesses to thrive. Bringing HS2 to Euston will help grow the economy whilst unlocking much needed homes, jobs and commercial opportunities in the area.

High Speed 2 Line: Euston Station

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the most recent HS2 6-monthly report to Parliament, whether phase one estimates at completion include public funding required to deliver core civil engineering and tunnelling work related to HS2’s Euston development.

Huw Merriman: Yes, as noted in the last parliamentary report the Estimate at Completion (EAC) is currently being revised in light of the Network North Announcement. The EAC assessment included in that report had not yet taken into account the new delivery plan for Euston and therefore includes all scope relating to the delivery of the HS2 Euston station, encompassing scope which will be delivered utilising both public and private funding.

Driving Licences: Applications

Holly Lynch: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of trends in the average processing time of applications submitted to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency.

Guy Opperman: Applications sent to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency are being processed within published turnaround times.

Euston Station: Housing

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate he has made of the number of houses that will be delivered as part of the Euston quarter development corporation.

Huw Merriman: The Government has increased ambitions for the Euston redevelopment and has begun work to create a transformed ‘Euston Quarter’ led by a new development corporation, or equivalent. This would deliver value for money for the taxpayer and could create as many as 10,000 new homes and opportunities for businesses to thrive. The opportunity for regeneration and new homes in the Euston area is one of the largest in central London, bringing HS2 to Euston will help grow the economy whilst unlocking much needed homes, jobs and commercial opportunities in the area. On 13 February 2024, DLUHC announced the establishment of the Euston Housing Delivery Group, which will explore maximum ambition housing regeneration in the wider Euston area, working closely with DfT and the London Borough of Camden.

Euston Station

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of Avanti West Coast’s management of Euston railway station.

Huw Merriman: No assessment has been made. Euston railway station is managed by Network Rail, not Avanti West Coast.

High Speed 2 Line: Old Oak Common Station

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress his Department has made on HS2 tunnelling between Old Oak Common and Euston Station.

Huw Merriman: The Government remains committed to delivering a privately financed HS2 Euston station as part of a transformed ‘Euston Quarter’ outlined in the Network North paper. The Department continues to define and develop a range of development models and financing mechanisms to best meet the objectives of the ‘Euston Quarter’. This includes consideration of options for using alternative funding to cover the section of HS2 from Old Oak Common to Euston, underpinned by contributions from those people and businesses this development supports. In the interim, as part of the construction of the Old Oak Common station, site preparations and enabling works are continuing to enable the future launch of the tunnel boring machines.

Ferries: Penzance

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether funding has been allocated to Harland & Wolff to run a ferry service between Penzance and the Isles of Scilly.

Guy Opperman: £48 million has been allocated to the Council of the Isles of Scilly from the Levelling Up Fund. No funding has been awarded by my Department for Harland & Wolff to run a ferry service between Penzance and the Isles of Scilly.

Motorcycles: Licensing

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to announce a timetable for a licencing review of (a) mopeds, (b) motorcycles and (c) other powered light vehicles.

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Government’s Joint Action Plan for powered light vehicles, whether he plans to take steps to simplify the licensing regime for mopeds and motorcycles.

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of simplifying the licensing regime for powered light vehicles.

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 27 March 2024 to Question HL3418 on Motorcycles: Licensing, if he will publish an assessment of the potential impact of simplifying the licensing regime for mopeds and motorcycles on road safety.

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish a timeline for plans to reform the licensing regime for L-Category Vehicles.

Guy Opperman: I chaired a motorcycle roundtable on 8 May with several key stakeholders from the motorcycle industry and we are working with them to bring together evidence to consider any future measures for licensing.

Regional Airports: Carbon Emissions

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of using low-carbon aircraft to support regional airports.

Anthony Browne: Airlines determine the routes they operate based on their own assessment of whether routes are commercially viable. The Budget confirmed that the Government’s support for the development of new low and zero carbon emission aircraft in the UK will continue with an additional £975m of funding between 2025 and 2030. In addition, the Government is supporting the development of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) by introducing a SAF Mandate from 1 January 2025 and the consultation on revenue certainty options to support investment in a UK SAF production industry.

Ports: Job Creation

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to promote job creation in British ports.

Guy Opperman: The Department supports the entire maritime sector to help industry create jobs around British Ports, ensuring that ports can operate effectively within the right regulatory environment for growth. For example, the Department works jointly with the sector through the Maritime Skills Commission to build the right employment skills to underpin this. We are also investing directly with our match funded £206m UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UK SHORE) programme to accelerate decarbonisation, using innovation to drive economic growth and job creation.

Ports: Infrastructure

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to help improve port infrastructure in (a) Portsmouth and (b) across the UK.

Guy Opperman: Development and improvement of port infrastructure is a matter for the sector itself and we work with them to create the right conditions to facilitate growth, investment and enhancement by all ports.

Electric Vehicles: Sales

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) new and (b) used electric vehicles bought in the last 12 months.

Anthony Browne: In the 12 months from October 2022 to September 2023 inclusive (the latest period for which published data are available), there were 357,021 new registrations of battery electric vehicles in the UK. The total number of new registrations for all fuel types in this same period was 2,413,737. These data are published in table VEH1153 available here, and a full 2023 update will be available later this month:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/vehicle-licensing-statistics-data-tables The department does not hold data on the number of used vehicle sales.

Ministry of Justice

End-to-End Rape Review

Sarah Dyke: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of expanding the Rape Review Action Plan to include all cases of sexual violence.

Laura Farris: The 2021 Rape Review Action Plan set public ambitions to return the volumes of adult rape cases being referred by the police, charged by the CPS, and going to court back to at least 2016 levels. We have exceeded each of these ambitions ahead of schedule. The Rape Review intentionally focussed its efforts on the system’s response to adult rape, acknowledging its unique and complex nature to investigate and prosecute, as well as for the harm it causes to victims. That being said, improvements delivered through the Action Plan will also have wider benefit for the justice system’s response to other sexual offences. For example, we have recruited 20,000 extra police officers and are providing specialist rape and serious sexual assault training to 2,000 officers, making sure the police have the skills to investigate these crimes. We have rolled out pre-recorded cross examination for victims of sexual and modern slavery offences nationally, sparing victims from the glare of court and helping them give their best evidence. We are also quadrupling victims funding by 2024/25, up from £41 million in 2009/10, enabling us to increase the number of Independent Sexual Violence and Domestic Abuse Advisors to around 1,000 by 2024/25. More widely, the Government’s 2021 Tackling Violence against Women and Girls strategy set out our plan for improving the system wide response to VAWG. We have delivered on the vast majority of the actions set out in the original Strategy and continue to make important strides, including the first successful prosecution for cyber flashing resulting in a custodial sentence (March 2024); bringing into force the provisions in the Online Safety Act (January 2024) including new intimate image abuse offences; and putting a new duty on employers to protect their employees from sexual harassment via the Worker Protection amendment of the Equality Act 2010.

Ministry of Justice: Ipsos MORI

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in what way the purpose of the contract agreed by his Department with Ipsos Mori on 20 March 2024, procurement reference 398437/1351727, differs from the purpose of the contract agreed with the same company on 5 June 2023, procurement reference 336036/1227987.

Mike Freer: The contract with procurement reference 336036/1227987 was delayed due to difficulties with finding a survey design that would accurately answer the research question, and eventually the contract expired before a workable design was agreed.A new contract – reference 398437/1351727 – was awarded to Ipsos on the basis of agreeing a different survey design, which is more likely to produce usable results.

Offenders: Litter

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the press notice entitled Clean-up scheme expanded nationwide to tackle anti-social behaviour, published on 22 March 2024, how many offenders in England and Wales were ordered to carry out litter-clearing activities in support of the Great British Spring Clean from 17 March to 2 April 2024; and how many hours of litter-clearing activity were completed by those offenders.

Edward Argar: The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Offenders: Suicide

Kate Hollern: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people serving an Imprisonment for Public Protection sentence on licence in the community took their own life in each year since 2010.

Edward Argar: The number of self-inflicted deaths of offenders serving an Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentence on licence in the community in England and Wales in each year between April 2019 and March 2023 are shown in the table.Self-inflicted deaths of offenders serving an Imprisonment for Public Protection sentence supervised on licence in the community, financial year 2019/20 to 2022/23, England and Wales (1) (2) (3)  2019/202020/212021/222022/23 (p)Total61197(p) The 2022/23 figures are provisional and may be updated in future publications to account for any changes or additions to the data since they were originally collected.1. Apparent cause is as reported in annual returns (prior to 2020/21 only) or the national Delius case management system (nDelius) and has not been independently verified.2. The reporting period relates to when the death occurred.3. A new set of death classifications was implemented on 1 April 2022 and, as such, figures for 2022/23 are not comparable to those presented for previous years. The category of 'self-inflicted death' up to 31 March 2022 includes any death of a person who has apparently taken his or her own life, irrespective of intent. The category of 'self-inflicted death' from 1 April 2022 includes any death of a person at their own hand, including where intent is undetermined. This includes some drug poisonings (e.g. where a suicide note is found or the circumstances are suspicious) but not drug poisonings which appear to have been the accidental result of consumption for another purpose. Refer to the guide to deaths of offenders supervised in the community statistics for further details about the new set of classifications.The information for the period before April 2019 could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Compulsorily Detained Psychiatric Patients

Kate Hollern: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people serving an imprisonment for a Public Protection sentence were held in secure hospitals at the start of the last 20 quarters.

Kate Hollern: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people serving an Imprisonment for Public Protection sentence have been transferred from prison to secure hospitals on mental health grounds in each year since 2020.

Edward Argar: Under sections 47/49 of the Mental Health Act 1983, the Secretary of State may authorise by warrant the transfer of sentenced prisoners to a mental health hospital, where he is satisfied that the criteria for detention are met by the aforementioned Act. Thereby, and for the duration of the period in hospital, the transferred prisoner becomes what is known as a restricted patient.The requested data in the tables below are taken from an electronic casework system. Snapshot data of restricted patients in hospital are available only at the end of each year. We have provided this information in Table 1 for 2019-2022. We are unable to recreate snapshot data, for the start of each of the last 20 quarters, due to limitations of the case management system.Table 1: Population of offenders serving a sentence of imprisonment for public protection (IPP) detained in hospital as a restricted patient on 31 December in each year from 2019-2023.YearPopulation of IPP Restricted Patients 20192722020276202129220222622023241Table 2: The number of offenders serving an IPP sentence who have been transferred from prison to secure hospitals on mental health grounds in each year since 2020.YearNumber of transfers202056202141202244202337Notes These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large-scale recording systems are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.Where patients are admitted more than once, each admission is counted separately. This information does not count number of individual patients but instances of transfers.Data Source: Public Protection Unit Database (PPUD)

Long Lartin Prison and Whitemoor Prison: Prison Officers

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison officers were deployed on detached duty to (a) HMP Long Lartin and (b) HMP Whitemoor in each of the last four years.

Edward Argar: Staff are deployed on national detached duty (NDD) as a tactical response to support prisons which require it, to cover staffing shortfalls or to meet other operational requirements. NDD is a vital contingency measure to assist H M Prison & Probation Service to maintain good order and security in prisonsThe table below shows the average monthly deployment of full-time equivalent NDD staff to the two prisons between October 2022 and April 2024. HMP Whitemoor is no longer receiving NDD support. Except as shown in the table, no NDD staff were deployed to either site during the past four years.DateHMP WhitemoorHMP Long LartinOct 2022013.2Nov 2022036.25Dec 2022040.2Jan 2023040Feb 2023041Mar 2023037.4Apr 2023044.5May 2023061.6Jun 2023060.5Jul 20234.555.75Aug 202323.461.2Sep 202331.2565.5Oct 20233064Nov 20233165.4Dec 202328.557Jan 202427.546.75Feb 202423.232.6Mar 202413.2527.5Apr 20247.527

Wandsworth Prison: Foreign Nationals

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of foreign national prisoners at HMP Wandsworth are (a) post-sentence awaiting deportation and (b) serving current sentences.

Edward Argar: The removal of Foreign National Offenders (FNOs) is a Government priority: the Ministry of Justice continues to work closely with the Home Office to maximise the number of deportations.As of 31 March, 13 FNOs were held under immigration powers after their conditional release date at HMP Wandsworth, while deportation arrangements were being made by the Home Office. This represents 1.8 per cent of the prison’s population. On the same date, 90 FNOs were serving sentences in HMP Wandsworth. This represents 12.8 per cent of the population.

Wandsworth Prison: Compulsorily Detained Psychiatric Patients

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of prisoners at HMP Wandsworth are serving (a) Imprisonment for Public Protection and (b) Detention for Public Protection sentences.

Edward Argar: The number and proportion of prisoners in HMP Wandsworth serving Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) and Detention for Public Protection sentences (DPP), as at 31 March 2024, are set out in the table below.Sentence typeNumber of prisonersProportion of the total population at HMP WandsworthIPP100.7%DPP0-Please note:(1) IPP prisoners include both unreleased IPP prisoners and recalled IPP prisoners.(2) DPP is the youth equivalent of the IPP sentence, given to those aged under 18 at the time of conviction.(3) The figures in this table have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large-scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. We have taken significant action through the Victims and Prisoners Bill to curtail IPP and DPP licence periods to give offenders the opportunity to move on with their lives. In addition to these changes, the actions this Government is taking are working; the number of prisoners serving the IPP sentence, including those serving DPP sentences, who have never been released now stands at 1,180 as of March 2024, down from more than 6000 in 2012.

Wandsworth Prison: Reoffenders

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of prisoners at HMP Wandsworth have been recalled to custody having been released as part of the early release scheme.

Edward Argar: Data on End of Custody Supervised Licence will be published when sufficient robust and comprehensive data is available. To support orderly release, its publication will be announced through the gov.uk release calendar.

Ministry of Justice: ICT

Matt Rodda: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the guidance by the Central Digital and Data Office entitled Guidance on the Legacy IT Risk Assessment Framework, published on 29 September 2023, how many red-rated IT systems are used by his Department; and how many red-rated IT systems have been identified since 4 December 2023.

Mike Freer: The Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO), in the Cabinet Office, has established a programme to support departments managing legacy IT. CDDO has agreed a framework to identify ‘red-rated’ systems, indicating high levels of risk surrounding certain assets within the IT estate. Departments have committed to have remediation plans in place for these systems by next year (2025).It is not appropriate to release sensitive information held about specific red-rated systems or more detailed plans for remediation within the Ministry of Justice’s IT estate, as this information could indicate which systems are at risk, and may highlight potential security vulnerabilities.

Long Lartin Prison and Whitemoor Prison: Crimes of Violence

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many incidences of (a) assault and (b) serious assault were committed against prison staff at (i) HMP Long Lartin and (ii) HMP Whitemoor in each of the last four years.

Edward Argar: We publish the number of assaults and serious assaults against prison staff, broken down by establishment, as part of our Safety in Custody statistics, in Table 8e and 8f of the summary tables, available at the following link:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/662a24fb690acb1c0ba7e57c/Safety-in-custody-summary-q4-2023_final_table.xlsx.Totals for those occurring at HMP Long Lartin can be seen at row 94, and for HMP Whitemoor at row 151.Improving the safety of staff and prisoners is our priority and while overall assault rates remain below pre-pandemic levels, we will continue to protect our hardworking staff through our £100 million security investment that led to X-ray body scanners, airport style security measures and drug dogs.

Health Services: Prisoners

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to (a) monitor and (b) improve response times to prisoner medical emergencies.

Edward Argar: Prison governors are responsible for ensuring that their establishments respond promptly and appropriately to medical emergencies, and all prison staff must be aware of their responsibilities for responding to a medical emergency (including resuscitation, and ligature removal) and of the local procedures in place to support a streamlined response.Responses to medical emergencies in prisons are undertaken, and monitored, locally by both prison and healthcare staff, and vary in the degree of seriousness and the level of medical intervention that is required.The time and type (‘Code Blue’ / ‘Code Red’) of a medical emergency is recorded by prison service staff when it is reported to them by telephone or via radio, and this will initiate a response which will include on-site NHS-commissioned healthcare staff and/or first-aid trained prison staff. Staff will assess what intervention is needed and determine whether hospital treatment is required.Prison staff will arrange for an ambulance to attend, if needed, and escort it to the nearest, safest point of access to the patient. Arrival and departure times of ambulances are recorded locally. All such instances, including response times, are discussed between prison and healthcare staff. Depending on the seriousness of the emergency, this will be either as part of a full debrief or, on the following day, as part of the regular daily reflection on the previous day’s occurrences.While arrival and departure times of ambulances are recorded by prisons, the responsibility for their response times lies with the NHS, and, therefore, any questions related to this element of emergency responses should be directed to the Department for Health and Social Care.

Prison Officers: Convictions

Dame Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many former prison guards were found guilty of criminal offences in each year since 2015.

Edward Argar: Information on how many former prison guards were found guilty of criminal offences in each year since 2015 is not centrally held.This is because the information cannot be obtained from the administrative systems held for the public authority purposes by His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service and the Ministry of Justice. If held, this information can only be obtained by accessing the case records themselves; these case records are held in the custody of the court for the purposes of the court, only.The vast majority of prison staff are hardworking and dedicated. A minority of staff engage in corrupt activity which is often as a result of conditioning and manipulation by prisoners.HM Prison & Probation Service has a zero-tolerance policy to drugs conveyed into prisons and take appropriate action to a small number of prison staff who break the rules. Our £100 million Security Investment Programme, aimed at reducing crime in prisons, including reducing the conveyance of illicit items such as drugs and mobile phones, is ongoing. This includes increased resource to pursue corruption, as well as established a new ‘Prevent’ function, aimed at building staff resilience against corruption.

Bail: Remote Hearings

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had with the Courts and Tribunals Judiciary on its decision to make second and subsequent bail applications remote by default.

Edward Argar: It is standard practice not to comment on discussions between Ministers and the judiciary.The Lord Chancellor is supportive of any efforts to help ensure sufficient capacity in the courts to hear bail applications and to remove principal structural barriers to applications being submitted, and he welcomes the revised guidance launched by Judicial Office which sets out that all second and subsequent bail applications to the Crown Court should be heard remotely unless ordered otherwise by a judge.

Prison Officers: Training

Dame Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison staff (a) in total and (b) as a proportion of the prison workforce had received training to deal with extremist prisoners as of 26 April in each year since 2017.

Dame Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people who had been convicted of offences under the Terrorism Act 2006 and related offences were being monitored by the Probation Service in each year since 2015.

Edward Argar: The method for recording counter terrorism training data has changed over time, so the information requested cannot be provided. Since December 2021, over 17,000 directly employed HMPPS prison staff have been trained in counter terrorism (through the Awareness for Staff on Prevent Extremism and Counter Terrorism Strategy (ASPECTS) programme).ASPECTS is delivered by counter-terrorist specialists and since 2017, all newly recruited Prison Officers have received ASPECTS training as part of their initial foundation training.Data as a proportion of the workforce also cannot be provided as records include staff who have since left the prison service and may also include staff who have attended training more than once. The figure also does not include training figures for non-directly employed staff (i.e. those working in private prisons).The below table shows the number of individuals convicted under Terrorism legislation (TACT), or of other offences considered to have a terrorism connection (TACT-connected), who were being managed by the Probation Service in each year since 2020.YearNo. under probation supervision. 20201322021239202221720232542024234Data can only be provided since 2020 as that is when the information began to be recorded centrally.All high-risk offenders released on licence are managed under Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements, through which police, probation, the prison service and other agencies work together to keep the public safe. Upon release, terrorist offenders are subject to robust risk management, and stringent controls which severely limit their activity. This can include extended periods of electronic monitoring, accommodation in Approved Premises, and polygraph testing.

Prisons: Drugs

Dame Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish a breakdown of drug incidents in prison by (a) drug type and (b) class since 2010.

Dame Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish a breakdown by substance type of the number of finds of controlled substances in prison since 2010.

Edward Argar: Drug finds are classified as incidents in His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service published data. The number of incidents of drug finds, broken down by drug type can be found at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64c143fad4051a00145a9422/8.__Finds_drug_type_data_tool.xlsx. Please note the following caveats:(1) It is important to consider with incidents of finds in prisons, that an increase in numbers may be as a result of more items being found, although not necessarily attributable to any one particular security counter-measure, rather than more items being present in prisons.(2) More than one type of drug can be found in a single incident, therefore the sum of the drug types found will be higher than the total incidents.(3) A new incident type was introduced in October 2015 to improve reporting of finds incidents. This included the introduction of several new drug types so the classifications are not directly comparable prior to this period. Buprenorphine, Gabapentin, Methadone, Pregabalin, Psychoactive substances, Steroids and Tramadol were all added during 2015-16, Benzodiazepines were added during 2016-17, and Ketamine was added during 2021-22. As a consequence the contents of the ‘other’ line will be different throughout the series All prisons have a zero-tolerance approach to drugs. Our £100 million Security Investment Programme, aimed at reducing crime in prisons, including reducing the conveyance of illicit items such as drugs, was completed in March 2022. This investment delivered 75 additional X-ray body scanners resulting in full coverage across the closed adult male estate. Under this programme, all public sector sites have also been provided with next-generation drug trace detection machines. This technology enables prisons to detect attempts to convey drugs into prisons. The equipment is effective in identifying drugs that have been soaked onto letters, clothing and other items.

Cabinet Office

Cabinet Office: Enterprise Rent-A-Car

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the contract agreed by his Department with Enterprise Rent-A-Car on 19 April 2024, procurement reference CCVH23A01, which public bodies are covered by the scope of that contract; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of that contract on the number of (a) journeys that will be made and (b) miles that will be travelled by hire car rather than public transport.

Alex Burghart: The contract with Enterprise Rent-A-Car covers the Cabinet Office and its Agencies.The Cabinet Office is obliged to report car hire journeys and the miles travelled when that hire car journey meets the criteria as laid down in the Greening Government Commitments. However, the department favours travel by public transport where most practical. Cabinet Office policy is that vehicle hire should only be used if travelling by car is deemed to be the most economical travel method for legitimate business journeys, and is cheaper than public transport. When hiring a vehicle, drivers should select the smallest and cheapest vehicle suitable for the journey.

Cabinet Office: ICT

Matt Rodda: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the guidance by the Central Digital and Data Office entitled Guidance on the Legacy IT Risk Assessment Framework, published on 29 September 2023, how many red-rated IT systems are used by his Department; and how many red-rated IT systems have been identified since 4 December 2023.

Alex Burghart: The Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO), in the Cabinet Office, has established a programme to support departments managing legacy IT. CDDO has agreed a framework to identify ‘red-rated’ systems, indicating high levels of risk surrounding certain assets within the IT estate. Departments have committed to have remediation plans in place for these systems by June next year (2025).It is not appropriate to release sensitive information held about specific red-rated systems or more detailed plans for remediation within Cabinet Office’s IT estate, as this information could indicate which systems are at risk, and may highlight potential security vulnerabilities.

Members: Correspondence

John Penrose: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to reply to the correspondence of (a) 4 March and (b) 3 April 2024 from the hon. Member for Weston-super-Mare on digital exclusion on behalf of a constituent.

Alex Burghart: The Government attaches great importance to the effective and timely handling of correspondence. As per the Cabinet Office’s Guide to Handling Correspondence on gov.uk, departments and agencies should aim to respond to correspondence within a 20 working day target deadline.Following transfer on 7 May of the Hon. Member’s correspondence of 4 March and 3 April 2024 from the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology to the Cabinet Office, I can confirm a response has now been issued, on 13 May.

Government Departments: Procurement

Gordon Henderson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which Government departments plan to make it a requirement in their procurement processes that potential suppliers meet net zero targets in their global operations by (a) 2045 and (b) 2050.

Alex Burghart: Since October 2021, all Central Government Departments, their ALBs and Non-Departmental Public Bodies have required suppliers bidding for relevant major public procurements (of £5m or more) to commit their UK operations to achieving Net Zero by 2050. This aligns with the UK’s own legally binding Net Zero target.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Council Housing: Morley and Outwood

Dame Andrea Jenkyns: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the availability of council homes in Morley and Outwood constituency.

Jacob Young: It is for local authorities to identify the size, type and tenure of housing needed for different groups in the community, including those who require affordable housing, and reflect this in planning and other policies.We do not collect data by parliamentary constituency on new supply of affordable housing, including on social rent. These data are collected by local authority area and published on gov.uk in Live Table 1006C.This Government is committed to increasing the supply of social and affordable housing. Our £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme will deliver thousands of affordable homes for both rent and to buy right across the country, including social rent.

Housing: Health

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department plans to take steps to reduce health inequalities through housing in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England.

Jacob Young: The Government is committed to improving the quality of rented homes and committed in the Levelling Up White Paper to reduce the number of non-decent rented homes by 50% by 2030, building on the extensive progress made since 2010. We are introducing a Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector through the Renters (Reform) Bill, which will introduce new standards that all private rented sector homes must meet. The Social Housing (Regulation) Act introduced new measures to drive up the quality of social homes, including through a new proactive consumer regulation regime led by the Regulator of Social Housing. We are also introducing Awaab’s Law, which will set new strict timeframes for social landlords to fix health hazards in homes.

Infrastructure: Public Consultation

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he plans to take to improve local consultation on nationally significant infrastructure projects.

Lee Rowley: Effective consultation with local communities on nationally significant infrastructure projects (NSIPs) is essential to ensuring that projects are delivered in the right way. That is why on 30 April we updated our guidance on public consultation during the pre-application stage for NSIPs.This new guidance outlines the expectations examining inspectors will have that effective engagement will support better quality applications. Applicants will now be required to include a clear programme of engagement which reflects the complexity and scale of the project proposed.The guidance also emphasises the importance of frontloaded consultation so that applicants can resolve issues at an early stage, and how communities can influence and shape projects so they can be accommodated to maximise local benefits and minimise any disbenefits.

Temporary Accommodation

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to his Department's statistics entitled Statutory homelessness in England: October to December 2023, published on 30 April 2024, what steps his Department is taking to (a) help prevent more households being forced into temporary accommodation and (b) financially support local authorities facing an increase demand for temporary accomodation.

Felicity Buchan: This Government is committed to tackling homelessness. We are investing over £1.2 billion in the Homelessness Prevention Grant over three years to help councils prevent homelessness and provide temporary accommodation, including a £109 million top-up announced at Autumn Statement for 2024/25.The Local Authority Housing Fund enables councils in England to buy or build housing stock to obtain better quality temporary accommodation for those owed a homelessness duty and provide a lasting affordable housing asset for the future. We recently announced a third round of funding, bringing the total funding to £1.2 billion.

Housing: Sales

Alistair Strathern: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he is taking steps to increase protections for house purchase expenses prior to exchange of contracts.

Lee Rowley: Announcements will be made in the usual way.

Empty Property

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent estimate he has made of the number of empty residential properties in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure empty residential properties do not fall into disrepair.

Lee Rowley: I refer the Hon Member to the answer to Question UIN 24519 on 10 May 2024.

Housing: Concrete

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to support homeowners that have reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in their properties.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what guidance his Department has issued to local authorities on (a) inspecting and (b) reporting on the structural safety of buildings constructed with RAAC.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of developing a long-term strategy to manage and remediate properties built with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete that are now deemed unsafe.

Lee Rowley: I refer the Hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 20527 on 15 April 2024.

Flats: Safety

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what data his Department holds on the number of residents who have been ordered to leave their flats in the last three years.

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of support for residents ordered to leave their flats because of (a) structural and (b) fire risks.

Lee Rowley: I refer the Hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 19948 on 28 March 2024.

Holiday Accommodation: Anti-social Behaviour

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he is taking steps to help tackle antisocial behaviour by guests in short-term holiday lets.

Jacob Young: As outlined in the ASB Action Plan (2023), the Government is introducing measures to ensure that landlords have the tools they need to take action against persistently problematic tenants, relieve innocent parties living nearby and ensure that anti-social tenants face the consequences of their actions. This includes a commitment to preventing short-term lets importing anti-social behaviour into communities.

UK Shared Prosperity Fund: Wales

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent discussions he has had with the (a) Welsh Government and (b) local authorities in Wales on the operation of the Shared Prosperity Fund after March 2025.

Jacob Young: Decisions regarding funding beyond March 2025 are ultimately a matter for the next Spending Review. We nevertheless appreciate the case for certainty and are committed to setting out further detail at the earliest opportunity.Officials are in regular communication with all local authorities in Wales on this issue, as well as with the Welsh Local Government Association. We will work closely with the Welsh Government on the future of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

Mortgages and Private Rented Housing

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an estimate of the number and proportion of people under the age of 40 who (a) lived in private rented accommodation and (b) had a mortgage in each of the last five years.

Jacob Young: The English Housing Survey publishes data on tenure by age of household.The most recently published survey is: English Housing Survey 2022 to 2023: headline report - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). The relevant data is in Annex Table 1.3: “Demographic and economic characteristics”Housing is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland.

Property Management Companies: Codes of Practice

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what his planned timetable is for bringing forward legislation to approve the Law Commission's draft code on event fees under section 87 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993.

Lee Rowley: We have committed to making event fees in leasehold retirement properties fairer and more transparent. We intend to bring forward legislation, as soon as Parliamentary time allows, to introduce a Code of Practice for event fees.

Homelessness: Northern Ireland

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has had discussions with the Northern Ireland Housing Executive on tackling homelessness and rough sleeping in the devolved nations.

Felicity Buchan: I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave to Question UIN 20145 on 16 April 2024.

Local Government: Elections

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate he has made of the number of people unable to vote due to the voter ID requirements in the elections of 2 May 2024.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many applications for emergency proxy votes due to (a) lost and (b) damaged IDs were received in the elections of 2 May 2024; and what assessment he has made of the potential implications of that number for his policies on voter ID .

Simon Hoare: The Electoral Commission is the independent electoral regulator and will be providing their analysis of the running of the May polls 2024. This will include the reporting of the number of individuals turned away from polling stations. We anticipate publication of their interim report in early July.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Journalism

Dr Neil Hudson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support local journalism.

Julia Lopez: The Government is committed to supporting local and regional newspapers and other news outlets as vital pillars of communities and local democracy. They play an essential role in holding power to account, keeping the public informed of local issues and providing reliable, high-quality information.Amid an evolving media landscape and changes in consumer behaviour, we are working to support journalism and local newsrooms to ensure the sustainability of this important industry. We are introducing a new, pro-competition regime for digital markets. The regime, which aims to address the far-reaching power of the biggest tech firms, will help rebalance the relationship between publishers and the online platforms on which they increasingly rely. This will make an important contribution to the sustainability of the press.Additionally, our support for the sector has included the delivery of a £2 million Future News Fund, the extension of a 2017 business rates relief on local newspaper office space until 2025; the publication of the Online Media Literacy Strategy; and our work through the Mid-Term Review of the BBC Charter to encourage greater collaboration and transparency from the BBC in the local news market and other markets in which it operates. The BBC also supports the sector directly, through the £8m it spends each year on the Local News Partnership, including the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.We are also reducing regulatory burdens on commercial radio providers, and strengthening requirements on the provision of local news through the Media Bill to ensure commercial radio continues to provide high quality local journalism.We continue to consider all possible options in the interests of promoting and sustaining news journalism.

Film and Television

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the Bectu report entitled UK film and TV industry in crisis, published on 26 February 2024.

Julia Lopez: The UK Government understands the huge value of our world-leading film and TV production sector and the importance of self-employed workers to the sector and wider creative economy.The UK Government has a clear plan to grow the creative industries by a further £50 billion and support another 1 million jobs by 2030. This was set out in June 2023 in the Creative Industries Sector Vision, which was accompanied by £77 million of new funding to support the sector’s growth. This is on top of a range of tax reliefs for the creative industries that have been introduced or expanded since 2010.The Government is already taking steps to ensure a strong, skilled and resilient workforce for the film and TV sector - as well as the wider creative industries - across the UK. The Creative Industries Sector Vision set out that by 2030 we want to deliver on our creative careers promise, to build a pipeline of talent into the sector and supports a million extra jobs. The Sector Vision includes a long-term strategy to improve the job quality and working practices in the sector, including supporting the high proportion of self-employed workers through the promotion of fair treatment, support networks and resources (for example through Creative UK's Redesigning Freelancing initiative).The Government also welcomes the steps that our public service broadcasters have taken to support self-employed workers in response to current pressures. This includes the programme of support Channel 4 and the BBC announced in August, in partnership with the National Film and Television School.DCMS and industry have also committed to produce an action plan in response to the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre’s Good Work Review, and actions include the recent launch of the British Film Institute’s £1.5 million Good Work Programme for screen. The government will continue to work with the BFI and the Screen Sector Skills Task Force to support a strong skills pipeline in the sector.

Holiday Accommodation

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of differences in the (a) licensing and (b) regulation of (i) short-term holiday lets and (ii) other providers of accommodation on (A) hotels, (B) bed and breakfasts and (C) other accommodation providers.

Julia Lopez: On 19 February 2024, the government announced a mandatory national registration scheme for short-term lets.The scheme aims to preserve the benefits of short-term lets, as well as tackling the challenges they present in a proportionate way. The evidence collected through the call for evidence in 2022 and public consultation held in 2023 suggests that a form of registration rather than a licensing model is the optimum form of regulation in this sector in England.Our aim is to make the scheme as light touch, low cost and simple as possible. The registration scheme is focussed on short-term lets, and therefore the register will not affect hotels, hostels or B&Bs. We will be examining the impact of the scheme on the sector through an impact assessment. Further details of the register will be set out in the government’s response to the consultation.

Tourism: Coastal Areas and Rural Areas

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the impact of tourism on the local economy in (a) rural and (b) coastal communities.

Julia Lopez: With coastal and countryside destinations making up 25% of domestic day trips and 31% of domestic overnight stays in 2023, tourism is recognised as a key sector with the potential to contribute strongly to economic growth and pride in place of an area.The Government is implementing a range of measures to support the sector and maximise its benefits for local economies, including working with VisitBritain to champion visits to the British countryside to a worldwide audience, and promoting rural areas such as the South Downs, Northumberland, Pembrokeshire and the Yorkshire Dales. Additionally, as mentioned at Heritage Day in March, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport will be launching a dedicated fund to support enhancements to our seaside heritage to help protect and rejuvenate coastal assets which are in need of love and attention.To ensure that the tourism organisation landscape works for local communities, the Government has introduced the Local Visitor Economy Partnership accreditation programme and the North-East Destination Development Partnership pilot. These aim to bring clarity and coherence at a regional level and drive investment and both domestic and international visitor spend across a region including in rural and coastal areas. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport, through VisitEngland, has accredited 33 LVEPs so far across a range of English regions.As set out in the Tourism Recovery Plan Update (2023), the Government will work to ensure that the benefits of tourism are shared across every nation and region, and expects the sector to contribute to the enhancement and conservation of the UK’s cultural, natural and historic heritage and minimise damage to the environment.

Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission

Political Parties: Registration

George Galloway: To ask the hon. Member for Lancaster and Fleetwood, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, if she will hold discussions with the Electoral Commission on the reasons for which it rejected the application from (a) Kingston Independent Residents Group and (b) Workers Party Britain on registering a description that included the leaders of those parties.

Cat Smith: Parties have the option to register descriptions which can appear on the ballot paper, instead of the party name. As the registrar for political parties, electoral law requires the Commission to assess whether a party’s description meets the requirements set out in law. If it does not, the description cannot be registered.If a person, other than the candidate, is named in a description and thus appeared on the ballot paper, it is likely to mislead a voter about the candidate standing in their area. It would not therefore meet the legal requirements for a description, and the Commission would be required to refuse it.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology: Public Expenditure

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 22 April 2024 to Question 22348 on Public Expenditure, what his planned timetable is for publishing the response to David Willetts’ report.

Andrew Griffith: DSIT published the response to Lord Willetts’ independent review of the DSIT business case and approvals process on 1 May on gov.uk: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reforming-the-dsit-business-case-process

Outdoor Advertising: Digital Technology

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department holds information on the use of outdoor advertising infrastructure for digital data capture.

Julia Lopez: Any organisation capturing digital data that contains personal data is required to comply with the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 which impose obligations on data controllers to process data fairly, lawfully, and transparently. Personal data should also be kept secure and not processed for longer than is necessary. Most of this information should be found in an organisation’s privacy notice which explains the collection and use of personal information.